I Remember You
by sillycucumber
Summary: AU: Ginny went missing two years ago. But one day she returns, but she's definately not the kind, fun-loving Ginny everyone knew. Can Harry break through her walls of ice?
1. Chapter 1

*Welcome to my latest story. Y'know, now that I've taken an interest in writing Fanfics, I cant seem to stop writing them! Anyway, this is my first attempt at an angst fic, so I hope I can do a good job.  
  
As for the Disclaimer, I own nothing of this except for my original characters!  
  
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Harry Potter sat at the Gryffindor table with his fellow students, enjoying the Hallowe'en feast. He looked around to see Ron laughing at something Hermione had just said to him. He smiled as he watched his two best friends quite literally stuffing their faces with treats. Now that it was their 7th year, the three of them had decided to make everything worth there while as much as possible.  
  
Harry looked around the hall, taking in every detail. Neville was sitting down the other end of the table, laughing with Dean and Seamus was flirting with Lavender, although it seemed hardly necessary as they had been dating for almost as long as Ron and Hermione. Harry frowned slightly as his thought came to rest on the one Gryffindor who was not present.  
  
Ginny.  
  
She had gone missing nearly 2 years ago now, and all attempts to find her had been pretty much abandoned. She had disappeared so suddenly, that it was a mystery as to how or where she went in the first place. Harry sighed and felt his stomach do a flip as he thought about her. She would've been starting her 5th year. She was so excited just before she left at the prospect of becoming a Prefect like Ron. Sadly, she never got the chance.  
  
"Hey mate. What's wrong?" Ron asked, tapping him slightly. Harry shook his head and smiled at Ron.  
  
"Nothing. Just zoned out for a while." He said. Hermione smiled.  
  
"Just another mystery in the world of Harry Potter huh?" she asked, smirking. Harry chuckled.  
  
"Yeah. One of those things." He said, helping himself to a chocolate frog. Ron smiled and went to comment further, when all of a sudden there was a loud 'crack' that sounded like wood being snapped in half. Everyone jumped and looked around for the source.  
  
Suddenly, one of the girls at the Hufflepuff table screamed and fell backwards, causing the three people around her to stumble back off their chairs as well. Everyone stood up in a panic as a portal appeared just in front of where the girl had fallen. Sparks and bolts of electricity were crackling around it as a person stepped out. This man was extremely thin and had sort of a weasel appearance about him. He looked around, smiling like a madman and stepped aside.  
  
Another man followed, but was significantly different from the last one. He was tall and very well built. He gave off a sense of importance and confidence as he stepped aside to let one last person through.  
  
This person had a cloak on as they stepped through, but it was clear from her physique that it was a woman. She spun around, waved her hand at the portal and it disappeared. Dumbledore stood up, looking curious at the three newcomers.  
  
"Well, I must say this is extraordinary. May I enquire as to who you three are?" he asked sternly. The tall man went to say something, when the hooded figure held out her hand to silence him. She removed her cloak with a swift movement and there were many cries from the surrounding hall.  
  
Harry's mouth dropped open as he looked at the woman. She was dressed in a very unique sort of outfit. Her pants were very tight and appeared to be not leather, but dragon hide. He top was some strange material that only had one sleeve and was quite revealing on her right side. On her bare arm she wore a black glove that was missing the tops of the fingers.  
  
But her most striking feature was her hair, which was fiery red and went down to the middle of her back. People stood and gazed with amazement at the woman in front of them, recognizing at once who she was.  
  
"Ron.... it's Ginny!" Hermione whispered. Ron took in a sharp breath as these words hit him. Many people were now shifting their gaze from her, to Ron and back to Ginny again.  
  
"Come on. Let's have some fun. Look at them all, just sitting there like little kiddies waiting to be....'  
  
"Jaleel." Ginny said sharply. The weasel man named Jaleel shook out of his excited state and looked up at Ginny. "Shut up." She snapped.  
  
"Yes My lady. I'm sorry." He said bowing and quivering. Ginny rolled her eyes impatiently and turned to the other man.  
  
"Keep him quiet." She said, looking up at the teacher's desk. The man looked over her head at Jaleel with slight distaste, before looking back at Ginny, smirking.  
  
"Yes, my lady." He said, bowing his head. Ginny waved her hand up, beginning at her hip to above her head in front of her. A straight line of smoke appeared where her hand trailed. She grasped it and a staff materialized out of it. She walked forward to the teacher's table, ignoring the quiver of anticipation around the hall.  
  
"Dumbledore, you have been informed of my coming." She said confidently. Dumbledore smiled.  
  
"Yes, indeed I have. But I must say I wasn't expecting you personally, Virginia." He said, his eyes twinkling. Ginny stepped forward again.  
  
"Well then, shall we?" she asked, indicating towards the chamber off to the side of the hall.  
  
"Yes yes, of course. All in good time." He said. Ginny frowned.  
  
"Dumbledore, I don't think you realize the serious of this situation." She said.  
  
"Of course I do. But, you have just arrived back so....'  
  
"Then we must address it as soon as possible. The feast can wait." She said impatiently. Many people gasped at her attitude. No one had ever interrupted Dumbledore in the middle of a sentence before, let alone a student. Dumbeldore however, continued to smile.  
  
"You have waited long enough already. Surely you can wait a few minutes longer. Why don't you sit down and join us?" he asked.  
  
"Dumbledore, I have neither the time or the patience to....'  
  
"I insist Virginia." Dumbeldore said firmly, but kindly. Ginny gritted her teeth impatiently, but followed his direction.  
  
"Very well. After the feast, we talk." She said. She tapped her staff on the ground twice and it vanished in a puff of smoke. She walked back over to the other two men and grabbed her cloak. She fastened it around her and walked off towards the Slytherin Table.  
  
No one in the hall was making any sound as Ginny smirked and sat herself down next to a very stunned looking Draco Malfoy.  
  
"Sit." She commanded. Jaleel and the other man bowed respectfully and found spaces to sit at the Slytherin Table. The hall just gazed openly at Ginny. She loaded up her plate with food and settled herself in, when she looked up at the hall.  
  
"What are you all staring at?" she snapped. Everyone snapped out of their daze and went back to their food. All except for 3 people.  
  
Ron stared at his sister, not believing anything he was seeing. Harry glanced at Ron's expression, feeling exactly the same thing. He looked back at Ginny and watched her.  
  
Of course, there was no doubt it was her, although she looked slightly more mature. She had definitely grown up. Her features showed maturity and experience in the world. Her hair was more dark and fiery, but her personality was the definite worry. Ginny had never spoken a bad word to anyone, except for maybe Malfoy. But now she was disrespecting everyone, even Dumbledore. It was like, she was afraid of nothing anymore.  
  
Ron did not eat for the remainder of the feast. He simply watched Ginny from across the table. As Ginny got up and began to leave, Hermione finally tapped him, pulling him reluctantly out of his gaze.  
  
"Come on. We have to go talk to her." She sad. Ron stood up excitedly and ran off out of the hall. Ginny had left seconds before Ron, not taking her eyes off Dumbledore as if to make sure he couldn't avoid her.  
  
"Gin, wait!" Ron called. Ginny turned around as Ron smiled widely, pulling her into a hug. But it only lasted for a second, as he was ripped away from her and thrown against the wall by the tall man that had been accompanying her.  
  
"Tulac! Release him." She snapped. Tulac hesitated.  
  
"You know this being?" he sneered, glaring at Ron. Ron frowned and his ears went red.  
  
"I'm her brother. Let go of me!" he said irritably, pushing Tulac away from him. Ron frowned at him for a second, before he turned to Ginny and his expression softened.  
  
"Sweet Merlin Gin. Where the hell have you been?" he asked. Ginny looked around impatiently.  
  
"I'm sorry, I can't talk to you now. I have important business with the headmaster." She said, walking around him. Ron grabbed her arm.  
  
"What? You've been gone for two years and I don't even get a hug hello?" he asked. Hurt was evident in his voice. Ginny looked behind him and rolled her eyes.  
  
"Ginny, goodness. It's wonderful to see you again!" Hermione squealed, standing next to Ron. Harry was smiling and nodding enthusiastically behind her.  
  
"Where have you been?" she asked. Ginny sighed.  
  
"Later." She sneered and kept walking, Tulac and Jaleel close behind. Hermione stepped in front of her again.  
  
"What do you mean later? Why can't you tell us now?" she asked. Ginny stood very close to her. Their noses were almost touching.  
  
"Move, or I shall make you." She said, her eyes flashing. Hermione frowned.  
  
"What?" she probed. Ginny finally lost her patience, clicked her fingers and Hermione was picked up and carried away by Tulac.  
  
"LET GO OF HER!" Ron roared as he and Harry tried to pull him off her. Once he had moved Hermione out of the way, Tulac dropped her on the floor and walked back to Ginny's side. Ron bent down to help Hermione up, looking furious at Tulac. Harry looked at Ginny with confusion. Ginny smirked.  
  
"Stupid Mudblood." She said, before throwing her hair over her shoulder and storming off towards Dumbledore's office.  
  
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*Ooooh, I hated having to call Hermione that, as I love her to death. But it's all part of the story. I hope that wasn't o lame. I'll be getting into more details in the next chapter.  
  
Please review. 


	2. Chapter 2

* Thanks for reading this far. I think it's an achievement to have someone even read my first chapter! Thanks for sticking around.  
  
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Ginny stood in front of Dumbledore's desk, looking down at her former Headmaster sitting behind it. He looked at her over his glasses, his fingers folded and resting just below his nose.  
  
"Please sit down Virginia." Dumbledore said, waving a hand at one of the chairs.  
  
"I'd rather stand." Ginny said flatly. Dumbledore nodded respectfully and leant back in his chair a bit.  
  
"So, we are to discuss this little problem that your world has found itself in." he said. Ginny frowned.  
  
"Firstly, this is no little problem. Porthos is skipping from every dimension, gathering followers as he goes. He is destroying each world in his path and nothing but unity can stop him. Secondly, it is not just my world that is at risk. He will of course, eventually reach Quartarz and destroy it, and his next target will be here." She said, looking around. Ginny smiled sarcastically.  
  
"And here we thought that you were one for standing together. What happened to your whole "Stand united and defeat our foes" attitude?" she said irritably. Dumbledore sighed.  
  
"I have not said anything about now wanting to stand with you. And I am in complete agreeance with you. We must stand together.' He paused. "But when your messenger was sent to me, I was not informed of all the details. You must forgive my ignorance then on the subject." He said. Ginny crossed her arms.  
  
"Well, we all make mistakes don't we?" she said impatiently. Dumbledore chuckled.  
  
"Yes, we do." He said.  
  
"But make no mistake old man, this alliance of worlds is only a temporary solution. As soon as the saga passes, we go back to normal." Ginny said, leaning on the table and staring him hard in the eye. Dumbledore nodded respectfully.  
  
"Understood." He said, his eyes holding a slight twinkle. Ginny stared at him for a moment, before sighing and rubbing her eyes. "You look quite tired. I assume you will want to stay in the castle?" Dumbledore said, standing up. Ginny blinked, let her arms flop to her side and nodded.  
  
"My Master told me to await here until further notice." She said. Dumbledore caught the hint of annoyance in her voice.  
  
"Wonderful. Well, I daresay there a fare few Gryffindors who will want to talk to you again after such a long absence." He said, walking around to stand in front of her. Ginny's expression hardened.  
  
"You're not implying that I spend my time here in Gryffindor tower are you?" she asked. Dumbledore smiled.  
  
"I see no reason why not. After all, many of your friends, not to mention Mr. Weasley....'  
  
"No. I think I'll spend my time with the Slytherin's. But thanks for the offer." She finished sarcastically. She spun around and made for the door.  
  
"You will spend you time in Gryffindor Tower. I feel it would be best all round." Dumbeldore said. Ginny stopped, made a face and spun around.  
  
"I don't see any reason to....'  
  
"The password is "Bowtruckle." Have a good night Virginia." Dumbledore said firmly. Ginny glared at him for a few seconds, before flipping her hair over her shoulder and storming out of the room.  
  
**  
  
"What's wrong with her? I mean, she's never acted like that! It's like she didn't even know who we were!" Ron said, pacing backwards and forwards. Hermione looked at Harry next to her. He shrugged and she sighed, standing up and taking his hands.  
  
"Look, we don't know where she's been or what she's been through. Maybe she just needs to....'  
  
"She called you a...a..' Ron stuttered.  
  
"I know. It's ok." She said, stroking his face.  
  
"How can it be ok? She was practically the female version of Malfoy just now!" Ron said.  
  
"Yes, but maybe Hermione's right. We don't know the whole story." Harry said. Ron sighed and relaxed slightly.  
  
"Did you owl your family?" Hermione asked. Ron shook his head and fell back onto the couch next to Harry, shutting his eyes.  
  
"Jesus, what am I gonna tell them?" he said. Harry looked at him sympathetically. Hermione went to say something, when the portrait hole opened, and Ginny walked in, looking extremely pissed off. Her two followers strolled in after her. Jaleel wheezing and looking around frantically and Tulac standing behind her on her right, looking around carefully. Ron jumped up.  
  
"Hey. What are they doing here?" he asked impatiently, looking at the two men.  
  
"They are here because I am.' Ginny pulled off her cloak and sighed. "Unfortunately, I have to spend the remainder of my stay with you people." She said, walking around. Many of the younger students looked quite terrified of her and were falling over themselves to get out of her way.  
  
"What was all that about before?" Ron demanded, anger creeping into his voice. Ginny chuckled.  
  
"Well, I told her to move didn't I? Not my fault she didn't." she said, smirking at Hermione.  
  
"Why did you call her that? I've never heard such filth come out of your mouth." Ron said, stepping closer towards her.  
  
Harry watched the scene. He saw Tulac tense up with every step Ron took towards his sister. Ginny seemed to sense this and turned to him.  
  
"No matter what he does or says, you aren't to touch him. Understand?" she said. Tulac nodded.  
  
"Yes My lady." He said. Ginny turned back to Ron.  
  
"You have no idea what could come out of this body my dear brother. Don't presume to think you know me." She said, smirking. Ron swelled up.  
  
"I'm the only one here who knows you! And I wanna know what's going on with you! Where the fuck have you been anyway?" he said, his voice rising slightly. Ginny simply continued to smirk.  
  
"I have been to a place you could only image. As I said, you know nothing about me." She sneered. Ron lost it.  
  
"That's it? That's your explanation? What kind of an answer is that? Dammit, do you have any idea how much grief we went through after we lost you? Mum nearly had a nervous breakdown and all you can say is 'I've been to a place you can only imagine'?" Ron said. He was starting to shake.  
  
But Ginny didn't seem to be really listening. A smile crept up Ginny's face, as she looked Ron up and down. She let out a breath of awe.  
  
"Wow. If you could all see him the way I see him right now, none of you would ever treat him badly again." She said, looking around the common room at the student. She looked back at Ron. "You'd be to scared to." She said to him. Ron looked taken aback at this. What did that mean? Ginny smirked and walked around him.  
  
"Granger, I assume that you now have a spare bed in your old dorm?" she said, looking up the staircase. Hermione frowned.  
  
"Yeah, there is now." She said. Ginny smiled.  
  
"Good. If you'll all excuse me then, I'm tired." She said. She turned around. "You two sleep down here. No funny business." She said. Jaleel stepped forward.  
  
"Please my lady, cant we just have a little fun? I mean, there all so beefy." He said, looking around the room and licking his lips. Quite a few people stepped back a bit.  
  
"Touch them, and you will die. Do I make myself clear?" Ginny snapped, looking hard at Jaleel. He quivered and slunk back down like a dog did when it was told off.  
  
"Yes my lady. Forgive me." He wheezed. Ginny rolled her eyes and walked up the staircase without another word.  
  
The common room was silent for a few moments, relishing in astonishment. Ron gaped up the staircase, before frowning, shaking his head and storming up the boy's staircase. Harry went to follow, when Hermione stopped him.  
  
"Leave him for a few moments." She said, looking up the staircase. Harry nodded and followed her to the empty couch. They flopped down together and sat in silence for a few moments, before Harry ran a hand through his hair.  
  
"That wasn't Ginny." He said firmly. Hermione let out a breath.  
  
"I sure hope not." she said.  
  
"What do you think happened to her?" he said, casting a glance at the two strangers who were hanging around by the portrait hole. People were beginning to make their way up to bed. It was obvious that they didn't want to spend any more time in the common room with the two men there. Hermione shook her head.  
  
"I have no idea. But I do have a feeling we'll find out in good time." She said. Hermione tapped him on the knee, said her goodnight and made her way out of the common room for her room.  
  
Harry gazed into the fire, rolling over the events of that night in his head. On the one hand, it was extremely good news that Ginny was back. Harry could still remember the day she disappeared like it was yesterday. They had been at the Burrow, and one morning they woke up and she had vanished without a trace. She had not run away, as all her belongings were still there. There only guess was that she had been kidnapped.  
  
Ron had not been exaggerating either. Mrs. Weasley had gone completely to pieces over the loss of Ginny. In fact, the entire family and many friends took it extremely hard. Harry had never seen the Weasley family so depressed. But now, it seemed that their happiness could be restored.  
  
Or could it? The Ginny that they knew was clearly not present anymore. That girl was a complete stranger. Someone who had obviously seen evil in it's greatest, and had lost all hope of anything better for herself than a world of darkness.  
  
Harry frowned. No, he wasn't going to give up on her that easily, and he had no doubt that Ron and Hermione felt the same.  
  
Harry took one last look at the two bodyguards, before adjusting his glasses on his nose and following Ron up to bed.  
  
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*How was that? I know, not much of Harry and Ginny. But I promise it's gonna happen! Don't be discouraged by these meaningless chapters, as I'm trying to set things up.  
  
I gave this story the R rating for swearing and a bit of sex stuff for later on.  
  
Like it? Hate it? Let me know! Please review! 


	3. Chapter 3

* Thanks for reading so far. Here's chapter 3, I hope you like it!  
  
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"Stop whimpering. It's pathetic." Tulac snapped, getting comfortable on the couch. Jaleel sniffed.  
  
"Why do you get the couch, and I get the cold, stone floor?" he said irritably. Tulac closed his eyes.  
  
"Because I'm special." He said sarcastically. Jaleel made a face at Tulac, grabbed a cushion and laid it under his head.  
  
"So, do you think Porthos will make his way here?" Jaleel said in his high, shaky voice. Tulac sighed.  
  
"That's what Master thinks. If he didn't, we wouldn't be spending our time in this stupid dimension." He said, rolling over to face away from Jaleel. Jaleel sighed, looked around and frowned.  
  
"B-But, what good will this place be against him? He's already taken 3 other worlds." He said. Tulac sighed.  
  
"Because believe it or not, this place actually holds beings with great power. Don't you listen to anything her Ladyship says to you?" he said irritably. "Just go to sleep." He said, not waiting for an answer. Jaleel shook slightly, frowned and lay back down, wondering how much other information he was not listening to.  
  
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Ginny walked down into the common room at the crack of dawn, desperate to avoid anyone. She was just about to walk out, when she sensed someone watching her.  
  
"Do you think it safe to wander around by yourself my Lady?" came Tulac's deep voice. Ginny smirked and spun around.  
  
"I can take care of myself." She said. Tulac smirked.  
  
"If you could, then you wouldn't need me." He said. Ginny rolled her eyes.  
  
"I don't need you." She retorted. "Just wait here and make sure he doesn't touch anyone." She said, pointing at Jaleel, who was lying on his back, his mouth wide open and arms spread out. Tulac frowned.  
  
"I am not here to baby-sit him. I am here as your bodyguard." He said irritably. Ginny frowned.  
  
"Are you defying me?" he asked in a dangerous voice. Tulac frowned, but bowed respectfully.  
  
"No my Lady. Forgive my rudeness, it wasn't my place." He said, although there was irritation in his voice. Ginny sneered one final time before flipping her long hair over her shoulder and storming out of the common room.  
  
**  
  
Harry stood at the window, watching Ginny run around in circles. She seemed in be in a deep state on concentration, as her face showed neither tiredness nor exhaustion. She was clutching her staff and was twirling it around in a defensive matter. She would vault on it, kick in the air and land skillfully on the ground. She intrigued Harry. There was something mystical and alluring about her that was the reason for him standing there for the past hour, watching her sparring.  
  
"Harry? What're you looking at?" Ron muttered, rubbing his eyes. Harry jumped and realized that that most of the boys in his dorm were now waking up.  
  
"Nothing." He said. He turned back to the window. Ginny was gone. "Nothing at all. Come on, let's go to breakfast."  
  
Ron and Harry got dressed and walked down into the common room together. They found that Tulac and Jaleel were not there, but a grumpy Lavender and Parvati were.  
  
"Can you believe her? She wanted US to leave her alone to give her some "privacy". I mean, it's our room for god's sake!" Parvati said, Lavender nodding in complete agreement next to her.  
  
"I swear Ron, you'd better snap her back to the way she was. She's turned into a total bitc....'  
  
"Don't you dare finish that sentence." Ron snapped, cutting Lavender off. "Sure she's a bit...off, but she's my sister." Ron insisted, although he didn't sound quite sure. Harry smiled apologetically at the girls as he followed Ron out of the common room to find Hermione.  
  
***  
  
Ginny sat alone at the Gryffindor table, and she didn't mind one little bit. Many of the early-rising first and second years weren't game to sit anywhere near her. Privately, Ginny found this extremely funny, but she wasn't going to let anyone know that.  
  
"Hey. Mind if I sit down?" came a familiar voice.  
  
"You're going to anyway aren't you?" she said, smirking. Harry chuckled and sat down next to her. He just sat there, watching her for a few moments, before Ginny turned to him and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Is there something you want Potter?" she asked, slightly impatient. Harry grinned and grabbed a piece of toast.  
  
"Breakfast." He said, taking a bite. Ginny rolled her eyes at his immaturity and went back to playing with her fork. "So, I saw you working out this morning. Pretty intense stuff, huh?" he said, Ginny ignored him, but he didn't seem to get the point.  
  
"Are you going to be in classes today?" he asked. Ginny dropped her fork with a clatter and spun around to look at him.  
  
"No. I already know everything that is to be taught here." She said quickly. Harry was a bit taken aback, but nodded slowly anyway. Ginny sighed.  
  
"Where are Granger and my dear brother?" she asked. Harry shrugged. Ginny snorted. "Don't play ignorant. You know as much as I do where they've gone." She said. Harry raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Huh? Where?" he asked. Ginny rolled her eyes.  
  
"Come on! Even you should be able to see that they've gone for a fuck." She said. Harry's mouth dropped open.  
  
"W-What?" he asked astounded. Ginny frowned irritably.  
  
"Jesus you're slow." She said, turning back to her plate. Harry sat up a bit straighter.  
  
"You can't know that." He said defensively. Surely Ron would have told him something like that. Wouldn't he? Ginny snorted and waved her hand dismissively, getting up.  
  
"What-ever. Bye Potter." She said, and walked off. Harry watched her go. He found that he could stop himself from wondering if maybe she was right.  
  
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"Hey Weasley, wait a second!" came a cocky voice. Ginny stopped, rolled her eyes and spun around. But her impatience immediately turned into a smirk as she saw Draco Malfoy running up to her.  
  
"What do you want." She said, crossing her arms over her chest. Malfoy smirked.  
  
"What would you do if I said I wanted you?" he asked, stepping closer. Ginny smirked.  
  
"What makes you think you could have me?" she challenged. Draco smirked.  
  
"I can have anything I want." He said, closing the space between them. Ginny chuckled.  
  
"Yeah, ok. You keep telling yourself that." She said, winked and turned to leave. But Draco grabbed her arm and spun her around, pulling her against him.  
  
"I don't have to. I know for a fact." He said, leaning in slightly. Ginny smirked as he pushed her up against a wall.  
  
"Malfoy, don't be so arrogant." She whispered and ground her hips into his, making him groan. She pushed him off her slightly and kissed him very passionately. She pulled back quickly, ran a finger along his jaw line, looked down at his crotch and smirked.  
  
"Down boy." She said, before winking at him and strolling off down the corridor, leaving a very aroused Draco Malfoy frowning after her.  
  
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"She actually said that?" Hermione asked, slightly outraged. Harry nodded. He had found Hermione and Ron on the way down to Potions and told them about what Ginny had said. Ron frowned.  
  
"Well, it's completely false. I just want you to know that." He said to Harry. Harry nodded and opened the door for them to Snape's classroom.  
  
"Maybe we should try and talk to her. I mean, what could possibly have happened in two years to turn her this way?" Hermione asked, sitting down in-between Harry and Ron. Ron nodded.  
  
"Yeah, if we can get her alone without her goonies hanging off her that is." He said irritably. Harry went to say something, when Snape entered the classroom, robes billowing out behind him.  
  
"All of you settle down. Take notes of the board." He snapped, waving his wand at the blackboard. Harry was not particularly in the mood to deal with Snape after that morning's confrontation with Ginny. But he bullied his brain into concentrating, settling with the fact that he was going to talk to Ginny later.  
  
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*Ok, you've gotta let me know whether or not this is going too slow. Please review, as im really not too sure about how well this story is going. 


	4. Chapter 4

* Hey guys! Can I just say that I am overwhelmed with the reviews you guys have given for this story! I never imagined that so many people would enjoy this. I'm just letting you know that if this story seems shaky in places, its just because I'm very nervous about this story. I've never written anything like this, and it's a great experience for me. Thanks for being so supportive!  
  
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"My lady, we have found you a space! M-Master will be in there s-shortly." Jaleel said, bowing low at Ginny's feet. She smirked at Jaleel's nervousness.  
  
"We'll wait out here my Lady." Tulac said, grabbing Jaleel by the shoulder and pulling him away from her. Ginny nodded and walked into the spare classroom.  
  
She squinted to adjust her eyes to the lack of light this dark room provided. She removed her cloak and sat on a desk, letting her feet dangle over the edge. She let out a breath and waited, finding herself becoming bored extremely fast.  
  
Suddenly there was a shimmer and a portal opened on her right. But this one was unlike the one she had arrived through. It was a great deal smaller and was a shade of bottle green, giving off a sense of great magic. Ginny jumped down off the table, walked up to standing in front of the portal and bowed respectfully.  
  
"Good to see you master." She said, smirking. There was a chuckle from the other end of the portal.  
  
"Always one for humor you are, even in the most grave of circumstances." Came a deep voice. A silhouette was all that could be seen through the gateway. "How did Dumbledore respond? Is he in agreeance?"  
  
"Yes sir, he is. He was extremely co-operative." She frowned slightly, then shook her head and chuckled. "That's why you sent ME isn't it? To try and touch a nerve in the old man." She said irritably. The man laughed, although there was little humor.  
  
"Yes my girl it is. You know I care nothing for him, or any of them. But they care for you. It is my understanding that they will think you have been living somewhere 'nice' for the past two years. Am I to assume correctly?" he said.  
  
"Yes, some of them might. Although many have their suspicions." She said almost reluctantly. There was a short silence.  
  
"Why would they think that? You have behaving as they remember you have you not?" he said a bit sharply. Ginny sighed.  
  
"Not exactly master." She admitted.  
  
"You're orders were to continue as if nothing had changed!" he snapped. Ginny resisted rolling her eyes.  
  
"It's extremely hard! These people hold my past and therefore have expectations. I've spent the good part of the last two years trying not to be that stupid little girl. I'm a good actress, but not that fucking good." She sneered, pacing backwards and forwards.  
  
"You assured me you would be able to handle this. Perhaps I should re- assign someone....'  
  
"No! I will finish this!" she said, pointing a finger at the portal. She sighed and let her arm fall to her side. "Forgive me master, that was inappropriate." she said, bowing. The man sighed.  
  
"Very well. Continue as you have been. Remember what I have taught you. These people may hold your past, but not your destiny." He said. Ginny chuckled.  
  
"Your tolerance of me is infinite my lord. Thank you." She said smirking.  
  
"I will contact you. Do not try to reach me." He said, and to portal shrank into nothing. Ginny rubbed her eyes, spun around and walked out into the corridor. She blinked against the sun and walked up to Tulac and Jaleel.  
  
"Come on, lets go." She said, giving one last look at the door before putting on her cloak and striding off down the corridor.  
  
*****************************************  
  
"Harry, why the hell are we still doing Divination?" Ron asked, walking down the stairs from the North tower. Harry chuckled.  
  
"I'm buggered if I know. We must have been high when we were doing course selection." He said, adjusting his bag on his shoulder. Ron laughed and rounded a corner with him.  
  
"You going to talk to Ginny later?" Harry asked carefully. Ron's ears went slightly red.  
  
"Hopefully. I don't know, maybe I can get through to her." He said, although he didn't sound too confident.  
  
"Hey! There are my two favorite boys." Hermione said, walking up to them from the corridor on their left. Ron smiled, bent down and kissed her.  
  
"Have fun in Arithmancy? Harry said, smiling. Hermione nodded.  
  
"Of course I did. Have fun in Divination?" She asked.  
  
"Of course we did!" Ron said, putting on a high-pitched imitation of Hermione. Harry laughed as Hermione hit in the chest with the back of her hand.  
  
"Aw, isn't this sweet?" said a voice from behind them. The three of them spun around to see Ginny standing there her hands on her hips and a sarcastic smile on her face. Ron frowned and looked behind her.  
  
"Not flanked by our little friends I see." He said. Ginny smirked.  
  
"No. They're out in the forest training." She said causally.  
  
"Isn't that a bit dangerous?" Harry said. Ginny waved a hand.  
  
"Probably.' She said. She stood next to Harry, looking up at him. 'So was I right? Did they really go for a quickie before class?" she said to Harry, although Ron and Hermione heard her.  
  
"Yeah, about that. What the hell is the matter with you? Saying stuff like that." Ron said slightly disgusted. Ginny scoffed.  
  
"Oh come on. Don't tell me you two haven't already given your innocence to each other in the throws of ecstasy!" she said dramatically, putting a hand on her forehead.  
  
"For your information, we haven't thank you very much." Hermione said, blushing slightly. Ginny laughed.  
  
"Oh come on! Even if you haven't, it's still obvious that you want to. Look at the way he looks at you Granger. He wants to fuck you until your knees buckle." She said, stepping forward. "And you're the same. You wanna ride him until you pass out with the pleasure of it." She said quietly. Hermione's eyes widened and she went extremely red. "You both want it so much that you're dripping with the stench of it." She chuckled.  
  
"That's enough Ginny." Harry said firmly. Ginny spun around and faced him.  
  
"Don't talk to me like you own me Potter." She snapped. "I just hope for your sake that they do each other before it's too late. It saves you from the whinging of Ron's sexual frustrations." She said, turning and walking off without another word. Ron gaped after her.  
  
"What the fuck?" he breathed. Hermione was shaking slightly. Harry frowned and walked after Ginny.  
  
"Hey, Ginny wait!" he called, running up to her. She stopped, sighed and spun around.  
  
"What do you want?" she said irritably. Harry frowned.  
  
"I wanna know what that was all about!" he said. Ginny smirked.  
  
"It was the truth! Can't anyone here handle that?" she asked, spinning around and walking off. Harry followed.  
  
"How can you possibly know all of that? Not even I know that, and I'm their friggen best friend!" he asked, slightly outraged. Ginny sighed.  
  
"You don't know because you don't want to know. You prefer to remain ignorant to their inner selves and just dwell on their outer layer." She said, increasing her stride. But Harry stayed with her.  
  
"How many layers is there in a person?" he asked, honestly quite curious. Ginny laughed sarcastically.  
  
"More than you realize. But I guess I shouldn't blame you. Everyone else here is just as near sighted as each other. They don't bother with little things like that." She said. Harry felt even more confused. He grabbed her arm and stopped her progress down the hall.  
  
"There's more to that than you're letting on.' He said, frowning slightly. He finally looked into her eyes for the first time since she came back. There once dazzling blue were now a dark, midnight blue. Harry gazed into them, searching. "Where are you Ginny?" he asked, more to himself. Ginny pulled her arm out of his grasp.  
  
"She's dead. She's been gone ever since I left this dismal world. Ever since I learned the truth." She snapped.  
  
"What truth?" Harry asked, but Ginny didn't answer. She spun around and stormed off in a fury, red hair and cloak billowing out behind her.  
  
Harry watched her go, wondering what that was meant to mean. The truth? What truth? Where had she been that had taught her all this? Harry frowned and turned around, heading back to Ron and Hermione.  
  
Whatever was going on with her, he was now determined to find out.  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
*Hey! Yeah, that wasn't much of a chapter, but like I've been saying, I'm trying to build some things up. So, like it? Any ideas on how I can improve? Let me know!  
  
Please review! 


	5. Chapter 5

* Chapter 5! Thanks for reading and reviewing! You've been awesome!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ginny was alone in the common room, sitting cross legged on the floor. She had been meditating for the past twenty minutes, when someone came in.  
  
"My lady. We have been contacted." Tulac announced, slightly out of breath. Ginny snapped out of her state and stared up at him angrily.  
  
"I told you I was not to be disturbed!" she snapped. Tulac bowed slightly.  
  
"I know my lady, but it is of great importance." He said. Ginny sighed irritably and stood up.  
  
"Fine. What is it?" she said, crossing her arms over her chest.  
  
"Porthos is moving faster than we thought. Turns out our spies have been detected and now he is speeding up his assault." He said. Ginny frowned.  
  
"Shit.' She spun around and put her hands on her hips, walking to the window and looking out at the grounds. 'Do we know were he's headed?" she asked. Tulac shook his head.  
  
"No my lady. Unfortunately we didn't get to find out that much. But there could be a chance he's going to skip over Quartarz entirely." He said. Ginny looked at him and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"What the hell for?" she asked. "You'd think Quartarz would be his ideal place.' She said, smirking. Tulac chuckled.  
  
"Like I said, we don't know much else of importance. However I felt that you should know as soon as possible." He said. Ginny stretched her arms over her head, showing off her bare belly.  
  
"Why didn't Jaleel inform me of this?" she said. Tulac chuckled.  
  
"Little wart was too scared to interrupt your mediation." He said. Ginny laughed. "Why is he even here My Lady?" Tulac asked. Ginny shrugged.  
  
"Beats the shit out of me. Master told me to bring him." She said. Tulac nodded and sat down on the couch, his posture still ready for anything.  
  
"Permission to speak frankly my lady?" he asked. Ginny smirked.  
  
"As always. Do enlighten me." She said. Tulac smirked.  
  
"I'm sensing that you're feeling slightly.... unsteady being back here amongst certain people." He said. Ginny stayed silent. "Especially that Potter. Has he said anything to you?" he asked somewhat forcefully. Ginny, although she tried, was suddenly reminded of Ron and his protective attitude towards her.  
  
"No. He is nothing. Don't concern yourself about him." She said flatly. Tulac frowned.  
  
"Have you read him?" he asked. Ginny shook her head, walked back into the middle of the room and settled herself back down on the floor.  
  
"No. He hasn't gotten that emotional yet. Although it will be interesting to see what he holds." She said, a smile creeping up her mouth. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I wish to complete my meditation before all the little buggers get back." She said. Tualc chuckled and settled back into the couch.  
  
"Yes my Lady." Was all he said.  
  
**  
  
Harry and Ron were making their way up to Gryffindor tower without Hermione. They had a spare session, but Professor McGonagall had ambushed Hermione halfway about something to do with Head stuff.  
  
"Do you reckon we would be allowed to use the pitch? I could use a little more training." Ron said, running a hand through his hair. Harry shrugged.  
  
"Maybe. Lets grab our brooms anyway. Maybe Remus can give us permission." he said smirking. Ron laughed.  
  
" Are you kidding? The man would pash Snape if you batted your eyelashes enough. Teachers pet." Ron sniggered. Harry whacked him over the back of the head. Ron laughed and went to say the password to the Fat Lady, when Harry held out a hand to silence him.  
  
"Shh, wait a sec." He said leaning towards the portrait. There were voices coming from in the common room. Ron followed and they listened to the conversation.  
  
"Porthos is moving faster than we thought.' Came a deep male voice.  
  
"That's that Tulac bloke." Ron whispered. Harry nodded and listened hard some of it were hard to make out.  
  
"You'd think Quartraz would be his ideal place." Came Ginny s voice. She must have been moving around as her voice was changing volume periodically.  
  
"What?" Ron muttered.  
  
"Shh." Harry said, shaking his hand at Ron to silence him. Harry's attention peaked as he heard his name.  
  
"That Potter. Has he said anything to you?" Tulac said. Ginny said something Harry couldn't make out and Tulac spoke again.  
  
"Have you read him?" Harry raised his eyebrows at this. 'Read me?' he thought. He looked up at Ron, who shrugged and looked as confused as he was.  
  
The voices died down and there was silence. Harry stood up and looked at the portrait hole, wondering what on earth that conversation was about.  
  
"Are you two going to go in or not?" Harry and Ron jumped as the Fat Lady looked down at them with slight annoyance.  
  
"No. I don't think we will be." Said Harry. Ron nodded and the two boys walked away, the conversation rolling over in their heads.  
  
**************************************************  
  
"Hey. Have you seen Ron?" Hermione said, walking up to Harry. Harry chuckled nodded and jerked him thumb at the door next to him. Hermione raised an eyebrow and pushed her ear against the door.  
  
They were standing in the middle of a hallway in front of an unused classroom. Harry had been waiting there, leaning against the wall for the past 10 minutes when Hermione finally came along, back from a meeting with Dumbledore.  
  
"What's he doing in there?" she asked, stepping away from the door to look at Harry.  
  
"Talking to Ginny. So far so good. There hasn't been any yelling." He said, smiling slightly. Hermione chuckled.  
  
"They can't possibly be talking then. The would yell at each other even before Ginny went all 'Alter-ego' and everything." She said, leaning towards the door again. Harry smiled.  
  
"Have you spoken to her?" he asked. Hermione sighed and stood back again.  
  
"I tried. But she was all sarcastic and spiteful. I don't get what I've done." She said. Harry shook his head.  
  
"I don't think it's just you. I think maybe she's been told something and believed it." He said. Hermione went to say something when Ron banged the door open, looking furious.  
  
"Didn't go so well?" Harry asked. Ron glared at Harry as Ginny walked out.  
  
"Well, unless anymore of you want to interrogate me into a fucking early grave, I'll be on my way." She said in a very annoyed tone and stormed off down the hall. Hermione stared after her.  
  
"Jeez Ron, what the hell did you say to her?" she asked, taking his hand. Ron frowned and relaxed slightly at Hermione's touch.  
  
"All I did was ask her about where she's been. She keep saying something about 'Quartarz' and betrayal and stuff like that." He said, rubbing his eyes. Harry rubbed him on the shoulder.  
  
"Don't worry too much about it." He said. Harry was only trying to make Ron feel better, but clearly this was the wrong thing to say.  
  
"Don't worry about it? Are you insane? That's my sister were fucking talking about!" Ron yelled. Hermione rubbed him on the arm, a worried expression on her face.  
  
"We know honey. Just calm down. Loosing your head wont help." She said. Ron deflated a bit, his shoulders sagged.  
  
"Sorry mate." He said. Harry smiled.  
  
"It's alright Ron. I'm sorry too." He said. Ron smiled weakly and sighed.  
  
"Come on, let's go to dinner." He said, looking once more down the hall where Ginny had just occupied, before leading Harry and Hermione the other way towards the Great Hall.  
  
**********************************************************  
  
Ginny sat up in one of the low branches of the oak tree near the lake, watching the moon rise into the night sky. She leaned against the trunk and let her left leg dangle over the side. She sighed, closed her eyes and breathed in the night air.  
  
It was all too familiar to her. This world had a certain smell about it that you didn't realize it had, until you left and returned again. She closed her eyes and let her other senses take over. The wind blew a slow breeze on her face and she could hear the sound of splashing from the lake.  
  
Before she realized, she began to relax in a way she had almost forgotten existed. This dimension, although it had its problems, was far more peaceful than Quartarz. Ginny relaxed her muscles and let her mind wander back. Back to that day.  
  
* (FLASHBACK) *  
  
"Stupid Fred." Ginny grumbled, storming out the back door in annoyance, not looking back. Fred had once again been tormenting her about her feelings for Harry. Although she tried to convince them that this was no longer the case, they refused to believe it. They could see the truth every time she looked at him.  
  
She kicked a stone out of her path and shoved her hands in her pockets, looking at the ground. She walked on, letting her feet take her anywhere. Right now, she was too irritated and embarrassed to care where she was going. Finally, she found herself in a small field just on the borders of her family's property. She sighed and went to take another step when she froze, the feeling of someone watching her washing over her.  
  
"Where are you going, my little fiery being?" came a deep whisper. Ginny spun around, looking for the owner of the voice.  
  
"Who's there?" she called, reaching for her wand. "Fred, is that you?" she demanded, looking into the darkness. She took a tentative step forward.  
  
"Don't be alarmed. I no longer intend to hurt you." He said. Ginny squinted as a large figure stepped out from behind a tree. Ginny raised her wand.  
  
"Lumos.' She said, and the light illuminated a very peculiar looking man.  
  
He was dressed in long, dark purple robes. He was tall, bald and looked to be in his late 40's. But what caught her attention was his face. His left eye was missing and a patch was covering the space. Down the right side, was a scar that started from his temple and went down to the middle of his cheek. Ginny stepped forward slightly.  
  
"Who are you?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly. The man chuckled and waved his hand around.  
  
"Just passing through. You might say I'm here on business." He said. Ginny frowned.  
  
"What the hell are you doing on our property?" she demanded, her bravery increasing. The man smiled, baring yellow teeth.  
  
"Well, trust me. I really didn't intent to find you.' He said, ignoring her question. He gave her an admiring look, taking her in. 'I must say, you are quite exquisite. Such a waste of power for you to dwell here." He said. Ginny frowned and lowered her wand slightly, although she still had a tight grip on it.  
  
"Care to explain all the mystery? Who the hell are you?" she asked. The man smiled and began walking around her in a circle.  
  
"My name is Jerek. I have come because I have sensed your frustrations. I am taking mercy on you before you end your miserable existence here without knowing your full potential." She said. Ginny raised an eyebrow as he circled her, looking her up and down.  
  
"My frustrations?" she asked. Jerek nodded.  
  
"Yes. Your cursing and pleading to be seen have been answered." He said, stopping and placing his hands behind his back. Ginny frowned.  
  
"I haven't pleaded for anything." She said. For some reason, Ginny was extremely entranced by this man. He stepped closer and smiled. Ginny's eyes widened as she looked into his remaining eye. It was an icy blue, but it was drawing her in. Something about it was dazzling and there was a hidden yet strange sort of beauty behind it.  
  
"Don't play ignorant girl. I can see it all over your face. Deep down you know it, yet you choose to ignore it. I pity you." He said. Ginny frowned, looking up at him. Jerek placed a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Think of me as the physical form of your sub-conscious. Do you understand this?" he said. Ginny shook her head.  
  
"Not really, but keep going." She said. Jerek stepped back and turned away from her.  
  
"You know what they think of you. Or the lack there of." He said. Ginny realized he was facing towards the burrow. He went on, not waiting for her to comment.  
  
"They don't respect you. You, just the youngest. The baby unable to take care of herself. You're practically screaming for attention and respect. The boy you want doesn't see you. He sees THROUGH you. They all do." He turned to her and Ginny found herself unable to do anything but listen to him.  
  
"You are far more than they give you credit or. Far more. Deep down you know this. You feel this. You're not meant to be treated like you don't matter." He said, taking slow steps towards her. Ginny felt her eyes beginning to water.  
  
"How do you know all this?" she whispered. Since she had been old enough to realize what they meant, she had thought these thought. Only in her most deepest and darkest of moments would she visit them. She had always pushed them away and never given into them, dismissing them as something else. Something she wasn't meant to possess. But now....  
  
"I come from a place where people are respected, not ignored. There you will be great Virginia. A woman of power. Here, you will always been know as Ginny, Ron's little sister." He said, leaning in and putting emphasis on the last sentence. Ginny frowned.  
  
"That's a lie. I'm more than that." She said. Jerek laughed.  
  
"Exactly! And after 15 years you'd think they would have realized that!" He said, pointing towards the house. Ginny stepped back a bit.  
  
"So...what are you saying?" she said. Jerek smiled.  
  
"Come with me. Let me show you the truth." He said. Ginny chuckled sarcastically.  
  
"So I'm, just supposed to drop everything and go with you to this place. You could be a Death Eater for all I know." She said accusingly. Jerek smirked.  
  
"Death Eaters? Girl, in the place I live they would bow at your feet. You really don't realize how powerful you are." He said, sighing dramatically. Ginny frowned.  
  
"This is all a lie." She said. Jerek chuckled.  
  
"I won't lie. The truth is far too much fun." He said. Ginny crossed her arms over her chest.  
  
"Prove it." She said daringly. Jerek smiled.  
  
"I will prove nothing. You're already considering it my offer anyway." He said. Ginny blinked in surprise.  
  
"I am not." She retorted.  
  
"It's all over your face." He said. Ginny raised an eyebrow and Jerek went on. "You're lucky I'm giving you a chance to consider this." He said.  
  
"Oh really? Why do you say that?" she said.  
  
"Because I could take you either way. But...I happen to enjoy your aura and, I'm therefore giving you a choice." Ginny stood up straight.  
  
"Very well then, I'm saying no." she said, and turned towards the house. Jerek laughed and the next thing Ginny knew, he was standing in front of her. He blew something into her face and Ginny found herself paralyzed. Jerek caught her just as she was about to fall over.  
  
"You will thank me in good time. You will learn." He said, before muttering an incantation and Ginny's world went black.  
  
* (END FLASHBACK) *  
  
"My lady. It is getting late. Do you wish to retire?" Tulac's voice jerked Ginny back to the present. She rubbed her eyes and looked down at him. She leapt skillfully from the tree and smirked.  
  
"Yes. Lead the way." She said, indicating towards the castle. Tulac smirked.  
  
"For you.... anything my Lady." He said bowing and led her up to the castle.  
  
************************************************  
  
*Wow! That was a long chapter! Hopefully this will answer a few questions. Don't worry, I'll get into more detail later on.  
  
Please review!  
  
P.S. If anyone can tell me how to get italics to show up, I would bow at your feet! I'm using Microsoft Word, if that helps. 


	6. Chapter 6

* Chapter 6! Thanks for your reviews guys, they've been awesome! I'm feeling the love!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Now that's what I call a win!" Colin said, stripping off his clothes. All the other guys laughed as they too, started taking off their Quidditch robes and started getting ready for the showers.  
  
Gryffindor had beaten Ravenclaw by 60 points, thanks to Harry's spectacular capture of the snitch. In no time at all, the 4 boys were completely naked and began congratulating each other on the game when someone walked in.  
  
"Well done ladies. Excellent effort." The boys spun around to see Ginny walk in, arms spread out. All of them cried out in surprise and tried to hurriedly cover themselves up.  
  
"Christ Gin! Were naked!" Ron yelled, placing a towel around himself. Ginny laughed.  
  
"Oh they're only Penis's. I've seen far too many to count and the all look the same. Except for Seamus. He's is quite amusing." She said, smirking evilly at Seamus, who had gone extremely red.  
  
"Mind if you explain what you're doing in here Ginny?" Harry asked, fixing a towel around his middle. He noticed that she was wearing a school shirt and skirt, but not in the usual style. It was very revealing as her skirt was very short and her shirt buttons were undone, revealing her cleavage. Ginny looked him up and down for a second, before licking her lips and smiling.  
  
"You wanted to speak to me apparently." She said casually. Harry chuckled nervously.  
  
"Yeah, but not now! Later on. Tonight." He said nervously. Ginny chuckled and smirked, acting innocent.  
  
"Oh, my mistake. Very well. I'll let you 4 get back to perving on each other. I'm sure the girls changing room is more interesting anyway." She said, walking out. She gave one last look at Seamus, before walking out. Her laugher could be heard as she left.  
  
Denis shook his head but couldn't help but smile as he got into the shower, along with the other two boys. Harry looked at the door of the change rooms, before chuckling softly to himself and getting in the shower.  
  
**  
  
Ginny waited in the Charms classroom, wondering what he could possibly want to talk about. Ginny had seriously considered not going, but she had a feeling Harry wasn't going to grill her as Ron had done. She saw the door open by itself and close. She smirked.  
  
"Have you ever heard of a thing called punctuality? Its good manners." She said with slight irritation. Harry smiled as he pulled the cloak off.  
  
"Yeah well unlike you, I'm not aloud to walk around the school at night." He said, walking around her. She rolled her eyes and sat on a desk.  
  
"So, what is it that you want?" she asked, swinging her legs backwards and forwards.  
  
"I want to get some answers." He said. Ginny frowned. Clearly her guess that this wasn't another interrogation was completely wrong.  
  
"About what?" she asked. Harry smiled.  
  
"The outfit?" he teased. Ginny looked down at herself, then back up and him and rolled her eyes.  
  
"I ran out of clean clothes ok? Trust me I wouldn't be wearing them if I had another option. I found these in the laundry. I'm not one for walking around smelling like a Mountain Troll, y'know. I do have some self respect, even if I am a cold, heartless bitch." She said crossing her legs and leaning back on her hands.  
  
"You said it, not me." Harry muttered, running a hand through his hair. But Ginny heard him. Her eyes flashed dangerously.  
  
"I beg your pardon?" she snapped. Harry sighed.  
  
"Well you have to admit, you have been a little nasty lately." He said. Ginny frowned.  
  
"Yeah well....I really couldn't care less anymore." She said. Harry pulled up a chair and sat down on it backwards, facing the back of the chair.  
  
"What's Quartarz?" he asked. Ginny chuckled.  
  
"Where did you hear about Quartarz?" she asked. Harry shrugged.  
  
"Around.' He said casually. He paused. 'So what is it?" he asked.  
  
"Its not what, its where." She said. Harry raised an eyebrow and Ginny sighed impatiently. "Quartarz is a dimension near the Tarell Plane. It's what you could consider not so pleasant. You wouldn't wanna take the kids there for a family weekend." She said. Harry rested his chin on his fists to show she had his attention. "It's a hell dimension. Many people go there to gain power, or to seek it. Quartarz is definitely not for the weak. Only the strong in will and magic will gain respect." She said, a distant look in her eyes.  
  
"And you've been there for the past two years?" Harry asked. Ginny chuckled.  
  
"No, I've been at McDonalds pigging out on Big Mac's." she said sarcastically. Harry smirked anyway.  
  
"And you've survived this whole time?" he asked. Ginny frowned.  
  
"Is that so hard to believe?" she said defensively. Harry blinked.  
  
"Well....I guess not." He said uncomfortably. Ginny shifted irritably.  
  
"Of course it is. I mean, how in Merlin's name could little old Ginny survive by herself?" she snapped, getting up and heading for the exit. Harry jumped up out of his seat.  
  
"Don't leave! Just, sit and talk to me Gin." Harry said, trying not to sound too desperate.  
  
Ginny stopped dead as her hand was outstretched for the door handle. She desperately wanted to leave. He little outburst just now was something she had not planned on. She shut her eyes, gathered herself back together and spun around, walking back to the desk. Harry let out a small breath and sat back down also.  
  
"Fine. Next question officer." She said impatiently. Harry sighed.  
  
"Did you leave? Or were you taken?" he asked. Ginny smirked.  
  
"What would you say if I told you I left?" she said. Harry frowned.  
  
"That wouldn't make any sense. Why would you leave your family for some piss-ass hell dimension?" he asked. Ginny flared up again.  
  
"Maybe because it's better than here.' She said. 'Here there are clouded visions of everything! People don't know what or who they want. They lie just so they can get something and, it turns out they don't want it in the end anyway!' he said, standing up again.  
  
"Maybe I got tired of all the lies. Maybe I got tired of sitting in the dark all the time!" she said, breathing hard. She knew she was spilling things she had been taught were never meant to see the light of day again, but right now she didn't care. Harry stood up also.  
  
"What lies? What are you talking about?" he asked, getting irritated. Why wouldn't she open up to him? Ginny frowned.  
  
"You really don't realize do you?" she asked. Harry lost it.  
  
"Of course I don't! That's why were fucking here! I want to know what's happened to you. Why you've gone all hateful. This isn't you Ginny!" he yelled, not caring if Filch caught him. Ginny however wasn't listening. She had stepped back a bit, looking at him with wide eyes and a huge grin.  
  
"Christ Potter, look at you." She said in awe. "You're magnificent." She breathed. Harry was rather taken back by this. Then he realized that she had acted this way around Ron as well.  
  
"What is that thing you do?' he asked still breathing a bit fast. "What can you see that no one else can?" he asked, calming down. Ginny blinked and smirked.  
  
"Lets just say I picked up a few tricks on my, um....'sabbatical'.' She said. Harry raised an eyebrow and Ginny sighed.  
  
"I can see a person's aura. It holds many things, especially for Wizards. Muggles have far simpler ones, as they have no magic to show. But more powerful wizards have a certain aura about them." She said.  
  
"What's Ron like then?" he asked, full of curiosity. Ginny smirked.  
  
"He's powerful. More powerful that most people think." She said simply. Harry nodded, not really wanting to know what she saw in him. Ginny went silent for a while, looking out the window into the grounds. Harry simply sat and watched her for a while.  
  
Standing there, bathed in streaks of moonlight, Harry could not help but think of her as beautiful. Her red hair with streaks of silver in it created by the moon was making her glow. Her posture showed confidence and power. When Harry caught her in one of her off-guarded moments, her old humor and friendliness would shine through. Ginny shivered slightly.  
  
"Stop staring at me. Its creepy." She said, smirking slightly but still looking out the window. Harry chuckled.  
  
"Sorry." He said. Ginny turned around and went to say something, but stopped as she saw him. She smirked evilly.  
  
"My, this IS interesting." She said elusively, walking up to him. Harry's eyes widened as she bent down and pressed her cheek against his, giving him a full view of her chest.  
  
"Never would have thought that." She whispered huskily. Before Harry had time to ponder this question, Ginny nipped seductively on his earlobe and walked out of the room without another word.  
  
Harry stated into space, not saying anything. 'What the hell was that about?' he thought. Harry stood up in a daze, grabbed the cloak and put it on. He opened the door to make sure no-one was around and when they weren't, he stepped out and slowly made his way back to Gryffindor tower.  
  
He couldn't help but have a small reaction to what Ginny did. Such a small action that could get him hot under the collar. What puzzled him more was that it was such a sudden shift in topic. It was almost as if....  
  
'No, don't be stupid. She's not a mind reader.' He said, chuckling silently at the stupidity of it. But something in the back of his mind was still wondering what other tricks she had up her sleeve.  
  
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*How was that? A lot shorter than my last chapter, but hey? Lol, please review! 


	7. Chapter 7

* Chapter 7. Thanks for your reviews guys. Honestly, when I thought of this story, I didn't think so many people would be interested in it. Thanks a lot for reading so far!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"My lady, I'm sensing... you're feeling... a bit stressed." Tulac said while dodging Ginny's fists. She swung at him again, narrowly missing his nose.  
  
"Shut up." She snapped and swung her leg around to kick him in the jaw, but he dodged it.  
  
"Perhaps we... should stop." He breathed, dodging her again. Ginny swung at him again.  
  
"No! Keep going!" she said harshly, making him step backwards. Tulac sighed and continued sparring with her. She was really going at him this morning. Usually she wasn't so forward unless she was desperate to let out some anger. Tulac misjudged her as she crouched, swung her leg around and tripped him up. He fell back onto his hack with a grunt as Ginny planted a foot on his chest, both of them breathing hard. Ginny pushed a loose strand out of her sweaty brow impatiently.  
  
"Give?" she snapped. Tulac raised his hands and nodded. Ginny lingered for a second, before lifting her foot and letting him stand up. She stepped back a little and rested her hands on her knees, breathing hard. Tulac cracked his knuckles.  
  
"Everything all right my Lady?" he asked, genuinely concerned. Ginny frowned and stood up slightly, stretching.  
  
"Of course it is. What could possibly be the problem?" she said irritably. Tulac went to answer, when Jaleel appeared, giggling like a madman. Ginny took deep breaths and stared at him, noticing he was limping slightly.  
  
"Where have you been?" she asked. Jaleel's excited expression was immediately replaced with a guilty one.  
  
"I-I was...er...'  
  
"Spit it out!" she yelled. Jaleel jumped slightly.  
  
"I m-met some of the k-kiddies in the h-hallway. We had a slight d- disagreement." He stuttered, stepping back slightly. Ginny gave him an icy stare.  
  
"Disagreement?" she said, glaring at him. Jaleel whimpered under her stare. Tulac grabbed him by the front of his robes and lifted him inches off the ground.  
  
"Explain yourself scum!" he said angrily. Jaleel was wheezing hysterically.  
  
"Put him down. He's too shit scared to say anything." Ginny said. Tulac glared at him once more before dropping him in a heap in the ground. Ginny let out an angry breath through her nose.  
  
"You two stay here. I'm going to sort this out." She said and stormed off towards the castle.  
  
**  
  
"I assure you, it will not happen again. If the little dickhead had done what I told him, it wouldn't have happened in the first place." Ginny said, surprisingly finding herself genuinely sorry. Dumbledore nodded, but Snape however was still furious.  
  
"Never the less, we still find ourselves with a third year Slytherin in the infirmary with a broken wrist." He sneered at her. Ginny rolled her eyes, no longer feeling remotely intimidated by her old Professor.  
  
"As I have already said Snape, I had no idea what was happening until just now! He has been taught to follow my orders, and he will be dealt with appropriately for not doing so. I have nothing else to offer you two, so if you'll excuse me...' she trailed off, bowing stiffly and walking out of Dumbledore's office without another word.  
  
'Stupid ingrate.' She thought. 'This is just what I need.' She stormed down the corridors, desperate to get outside and be alone for a few minutes.  
  
Ginny was absolutely furious with herself after last night. She had let her guard down and had become emotional. 'Damn Potter to hell.' She thought angrily. She had not meant for anyone to see her so vulnerable, especially him. Not after everything she had learned. But what made it interesting was what she had sensed about him last night. Ginny smirked as she remembered it.  
  
'He wants me.' She thought. Years ago this would have fulfilled her every dream. But not anymore. She had found out that he was just like the rest of them. But knowing that he wanted her wasn't the real problem.  
  
The problem was, she was starting to feel the same.  
  
***********************************************************  
  
"Did you hear?"  
  
"That weasel bloke...'  
  
"Put Givvens in Hospital with a broken wrist!"  
  
"He's with Ginny Weasley isn't he?"  
  
Harry has been listening to these murmurs all day and he was quite frankly beginning to get tired of it. The news of the fight between Harley Givvens and Jaleel had spread like wildfire, and what was more amazing was that Dumbledore had done nothing about it but talk to Ginny.  
  
Many of the Slytherins were outraged, but Malfoy seemed to be making it worse. Just now in DADA for example, Malfoy had cornered Ron and began taunting him.  
  
"Hey Weasley! Maybe you should get your sister under control. But then again, maybe not. This rebellious streak suits her. Maybe she and I can get together sometime!" he called as the trio was walking into the Great Hall. Harry felt Ron tense next to him.  
  
"Just ignore the little Ferret." Hermione said irritably, looking behind her and glaring at Malfoy. Ron snorted.  
  
"Are you kidding?" he said, going red. Harry sighed.  
  
"Hermione's right. Punching him wont make anything change." He said reluctantly. Ron sniffed.  
  
"It'd make me feel a whole lot better." He said stiffly. Harry smirked, but wiped it off his face at Hermione's disapproving look.  
  
They walked over to Gryffindor table and began eating lunch in silence, as Harry and Hermione felt it best not to say anything in case Ron snapped.  
  
Harry started making a sandwich, when he saw Tulac walk up to the Teachers table and whisper something to Dumbledore. Dumbledore nodded, Tulac bowed and then left again. Harry blinked and looked around for Ginny, but she wasn't there.  
  
Harry felt himself blush slightly at the thought of her. He had not forgotten last night's confrontation, and he couldn't talk to anyone about it, as he hadn't told Ron and Hermione that he was going to meet her in the first place.  
  
Harry could still feel her warm lips on his earlobe. Harry tried not to groan at the thought of it. He involuntarily found himself with a sudden attraction to the youngest Weasley that he never even thought would be possible.  
  
Harry looked around to see if anyone had noticed his day-dreaming. Thankfully, no one had. Harry sighed with relief and went back to his sandwich and for the time being, driving all thought of Ginny out of his head.  
  
*********************************************  
  
Ginny lay down on her back, her hands behind her head and closed her eyes. The grass was too wet to lie down on, so she opted for the next best thing. The outside corridor that lead to the north tower. She relaxed as much was possible on a stone floor and let her mind wander back.  
  
* (FLASHBACK) *  
  
"Let me out of here!" Ginny screamed, shaking the mettle bars of her cell. She had been yelling for what seemed like hours and her throat was starting to hurt. She rested her forehead against the cold bars and took slow, deep breaths.  
  
"Think Ginny, think." She commanded herself. But nothing was coming to her, and she was now quite useless, as her wand had been taken off her. She felt her eyes starting to water as she looked around her cage.  
  
'This must be what Azkaban looks like.' She thought, running her hands along the stone walls. The cell was extremely dark and the only light coming in was through the tiniest of windows. But the light was not golden or silver from the moon. It was a very disturbing shade of red. She shivered as a cold breeze blew from a small crack in the wall. She now realized she had very little on. Her simple shorts and t-shirt. She flopped down on the small bed that was provided in the corner and brought her knees up to her chest, put her forehead against her knees and began thinking of home. A million thoughts were running through her head.  
  
'Will they have realized I'm gone? Will they come looking for me? Of course they will. But how will they find me here? I don't even know where here is.'  
  
Ginny was about to let herself break down completely, when....  
  
"Finally, you have stopped screaming. You are much more stubborn than I originally thought." Came a familiar voice. Ginny's head snapped up as she saw the man Jerek standing outside her cell, smiling at her. Ginny suddenly felt extremely mad. She jumped up, ran to the door and slammed her fists against it, but the man did not flinch.  
  
"Where the hell am I? How dare you hold me here! Let me go!" she demanded angrily. But the man continued to smile.  
  
"Do not worry my precious. You will be released in good time." He said. Ginny was breathing hard.  
  
"In good time? Let me the hell out of here NOW!" she yelled, slamming her palm against the door again. Jerek sighed.  
  
"So little patience. Some consider it a virtue. I consider it a waste of valuable time.' He paused, Ginny still glaring at him. 'But it seems in your case I will have to make an exception." He said almost regretfully. He smiled and looked at her cell over her shoulder. "Are your accommodations suitable?" he asked.  
  
"Their shithouse." Ginny snapped. Jerek smiled nevertheless.  
  
"You will be a good apprentice." He said simply, and before Ginny could say anything else, he turned and walked back out of the room. Ginny stared into the space that was occupied by Jerek seconds before, eyes wide.  
  
"Apprentice?" she asked. She shook her head, spun around and sat back down on the bed in the position she was in before.  
  
"Never." She said determinedly. She sighed and wished her brothers were there. Any of them. Hell, she'd even take Percy. Ginny began to sob and lay down on the bed, exhaustion finally taking over.  
  
* (END FLASHBACK) *  
  
"My lady, your lunch. Those funny looking creatures prepared you a meal." Tulac said, bending down at her side. Ginny sighed, opened her eyes and sat up slowly.  
  
"Thank you Tulac." She said, giving him a genuine smile. Tulac smirked, bowed his head, stood up and walked a few steps back to give her some time alone. Ginny looked down at the tray with her sandwiches on it.  
  
'Hmm, corned beef.' She thought, a smirk threatening to make an appearance on her face. She took a bite of the sandwich and sighed, remembering what Corned beef tasted like.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
* Hey. Any good? I'm trying to get Ginny back to normal step by step. Am I doing ok? Let me know. Please review! 


	8. Chapter 8

* Chapter 8! Thanks for reading so far guys. I hope in can keep you interested!  
  
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"So, I just wanted to say thanks. I mean, if your friend hadn't have interfered....'  
  
"Then there would have been a lot less fucking hassle." Ginny snapped. The first year winced slightly, but shrugged it off anyway.  
  
Ginny was sitting in front of her fire in one of the comfy red armchairs, her legs relined over the armrest and was thinking about things when a first year came up to her and began talking to her. She had been there for the past 10 minutes so far and no matter how nasty Ginny acted towards her, she just wouldn't leave her alone. She had come to thank Ginny for Jaleel's interference, as the third year boy that was in the hospital wing, had been hassling her minutes before Jaleel started a fight with him.  
  
"So, you're brothers Ron right? He's a good prefect y'know. Very persistent." She said, looking up at Ginny with awe. Ginny was desperately trying to tune her out, but it simply wasn't working. Her high-pitched, eleven year old girly voice was drilling into Ginny's head. 'God, did I ever sound like this?' she thought with horror. She frowned down at the girl who was sitting on the floor in front of her.  
  
"Look, don't you have anything better to do than sit here and blab on about things to me?" Ginny said impatiently. The girl sighed and nodded.  
  
"Yeah. I've got a potions essay to do. I guess I'd better start it." She said, getting up. Ginny rolled her eyes and privately thanked the gods that she was finally leaving.  
  
"Yes, you'd better. You don't want Snape angry at you, do you?" she said in a babying, sarcastic tone. The girl shivered and shook her head.  
  
"No way. Well, see you around Ginny!" she said happily and jogged off out of the common room. Ginny sunk down lower into her seat and closed her eyes.  
  
"Thank Christ for that." She muttered. She relaxed and felt the warmth of the fire on the left side of her face, enjoying the silence. Although the common room was relatively full, Ginny really didn't mind. She was usually left alone, as many people had been turned away by her snappish attitude.  
  
'Serves them right.' She thought bitterly. 'They think I don't know, but I do.' She shifted slightly and opened her eyes, staring into the fire. It interested her how fire can mean both life and death.  
  
She came out of her daze, looked around and suddenly found herself rather bored. She smirked, wondering if she could get away with some mischief. But then caught herself, realizing that would be rather hypocritical after her to do so, especially after her confrontation with Jaleel.  
  
Ginny sighed and took off her one glove, throwing it on top of her cloak on the opposite chair. She was now to (her absolute relief) back in her original outfit. She was about to consider going to sleep, when in walked in a very hot looking Harry Potter.  
  
By the looks of it, he had just gone for a run as his hair was sticking to his forehead and beads of sweat were running down his face. He was also breathing slightly heavy. Ginny watched him strip off his jacket and dump in on the floor, walk straight past her and walk up to his room. He hadn't even seen Ginny sitting in front of the fire, looking at him with wide eyes.  
  
Ginny suddenly felt a heat wave pass over her, a familiar sensation pass through her body. She smirked, stood up and adjusted her clothes.  
  
"Looks like I can have some fun." She thought, following him up the stairs.  
  
**  
  
"Hey. How was your run?" Seamus asked, reading his book. Harry smiled.  
  
"Good actually. Not too cold, but cold enough.' He said, taking off his t- shirt exposing his toned chest. Harry sighed and looked around. "Where's Ron?" he asked.  
  
"He and Hermione had some Prefect stuff to do.' He said, shrugging. There was a knock at the door and the two boys looked to see Ginny standing in the doorway, looking strangely at Harry. Harry swallowed and smiled.  
  
"Hey Gin." He said. Ginny smiled and looked at Seamus.  
  
"Hi Seamus." She said, trying not to laugh. Seamus went red, got up off his bed and headed for the door.  
  
"H-Hi Ginny." He said, embarrassment written all over his face. Seamus turned to Harry. 'I'll just go shall I?" he said. He looked at Ginny and walked around her, pressing myself against the doorway to avoid her. Ginny smirked as he practically ran down the staircase towards the common room. Ginny sighed and shut the door. She spun around, leant against it and smiled evilly at Harry.  
  
"Oh, I thought he'd never leave." She said dramatically, taking a step towards Harry. He smiled and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Ok then. Um, what did you want?" he asked, scratching his chest. Ginny licked her lips.  
  
"Honestly?" she said. Harry smiled.  
  
"Yeah, sure." He said. Ginny smirked and ran a finger down his left arm.  
  
"You." She said softly but clearly. And before Harry had time to ponder this, Ginny pulled his head down and pressed her lips hungrily against his. Harry's eyes were wide as Ginny's tongue ran along his bottom lip, begging for entry. Harry pushed her back a bit to look at her.  
  
"Ginny, what the hell are you doing?" he asked, breathing heavily. Ginny smirked.  
  
"Its called kissing Harry. You should look it up sometime.' She said, running her hand along his chest. Harry quivered slightly at her touch.  
  
"Yeah, I know that. But...why?" he asked, not really bothering to stop her hands slow progression down his torso. She smirked.  
  
"Because. You want me and I want you. Its only natural that now we do something about it." She whispered, nipping again on his earlobe, her hands scratching his stomach. Harry laughed nervously.  
  
"Er, but....' he stopped and gasped as Ginny's hand made its way dangerously towards his lower region.  
  
"Oh come on Harry. Don't tell me you've never done this before." She said, tracing circles on his left thigh. Harry closed his eyes.  
  
"No, actually. I h-haven't." He said. His breathing had increased. Ginny laughed softly.  
  
"I have trouble believing that." She whispered, licking his neck softly. Harry quivered again. Ginny smiled as she kissed her way down his neck. She took his hand and ran it along her stomach.  
  
"See? Not that bad." She said, looking up at him again. Harry's eyes focused an unfocused as she let him take over. Harry wrapped his arms around her waist, his hands slowly running up and down her back.  
  
'Good god. This is crazy!' Harry thought. He wasn't sure he wanted to be doing this, but she felt too damn good. Harry bent down a bit and rested his cheek on the top of her head, taking in her scent. She smelled like nothing he had ever smelled before. It was a foreign scent, but it was still extremely arousing.  
  
Ginny was starting to get slightly impatient. Already she found herself rather horney and all Harry wanted to do was run his hands along her back?  
  
' I don't think so.' She thought. She smirked and ran her hands along the sides of his thighs, pressing herself against him more. Then she felt it. She smirked at the satisfaction.  
  
"Ginny, I don't....'  
  
"Oh I think you do." She said, looking down at his growing erection. Harry swallowed.  
  
"We cant...'  
  
"Shh." She said, pressing a finger to hips lip. Suddenly, a new wave of passion fell over her. She pushed him down on his bed, making him recline slightly. She straddled him and smirked, running her hands along his chest.  
  
'He's mine.' She thought. 'I'll make him feel it.' She thought determinedly. She took off her already skimpy top, giving him a full view of her breasts.  
  
"Touch me Harry." She purred. Harry did so, his teenage male hormones taking over. Ginny sighed as Harry began fondling her breast.  
  
'Yes. That's it.' She thought. Harry began sucking on her neck. Ginny moaned and began grinning herself into him. Harry growled and put his head in the crook of her neck, still playing with her breasts.  
  
'That's it. Just a bit more and I'll dump you.' Ginny thought bitterly. Harry groaned as Ginny continued to rub against him, moaning herself.  
  
Suddenly, Harry's eyes snapped open and he shook his head.  
  
"No. Wait Ginny!" he said very reluctantly, his senses coming back to him. Ginny didn't however.  
  
"No. Keep going." she snapped, kissing his neck. But Harry frowned. Something was wrong.  
  
"Ginny get off!" he said forcefully. He picked Ginny up and stood her up on the floor. Harry stood up quickly.  
  
"What the fuck? How dare you Potter." She snapped. Harry's eyes widened.  
  
"What's wrong Ginny?" he asked concerned. Ginny frowned.  
  
"You want me.' She said, ignoring him. 'You're meant to feel it. It isn't meant to work like this!" she yelled, kicking the bedpost. Harry just watched her fuming. She picked up her top and jammed it back on.  
  
"No! You will! You'll know how it feels! Fuck you Harry Potter!" she yelled, and stormed out of the room, leaving a very confused, very horney Harry Potter alone in his room.  
  
*****  
  
"Stupid shithead!" Ginny muttered to herself angrily, walking down the corridors of the castle. 'He was meant to feel it! He didn't. I did. I cant believe it!' she thought.  
  
Ginny was furious with Harry. 'How dare he reject me? He wanted me!' she thought. She had wanted to get back at him. She wanted to make him feel the pain of wanting someone so much but not being able to have them. She wanted him to feel what she had felt for him since she was 11 years old. She wanted him to know how she felt. She wanted them all to know.  
  
'God damn it!' she thought. He anger increased as she realized something. Behind all of the vengeance and bitterness, behind all the pain.... she hated herself for enjoying that. She felt disgusted with herself for opening herself up to him. For being careless.  
  
For feeling emotions long since forgotten.  
  
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*There's chapter 8! I hope it was ok. Ginny's going through a rough time at the moment, but I'm going to snap her out of all of this soon. If some of the things Ginny thinks don't make sense, fear not. All will be revealed in good time.  
  
Please review! 


	9. Chapter 9

* Chapter 9! I have been inspired and I shall try my hardest to give you people some enjoyment.  
  
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"So, I want those essays done by Monday. No slacking off for any of you!" Lupin called as his class of 7th years filed out of the classroom. Lupin smiled as Harry walked up to his desk.  
  
"Anything you wanted Harry?" he asked, smiling and packing his papers into his briefcase. Harry ran a hand through his hair.  
  
"Um, no. Not really. Just wondering if you're going to be ok tonight." He asked concerned. Lupin smiled wirily and nodded.  
  
"Yes, I'll be fine. It's not the first Full moon I've spent alone." He said sadly. Harry nodded understandingly. "But, change of subject. How's Ginny?" he asked, closing his briefcase. Harry avoided his gaze and looked at the floor.  
  
"Um, that's a difficult subject." He muttered, blushing slightly. Lupin wondered what that could be about, before shaking his head.  
  
"Yes. She came in here yesterday. One look at me and sat there for 20 minutes, just staring at me." He said, resting against his desk. Harry suddenly found this interesting.  
  
"What did she say?" he asked. Lupin frowned slightly.  
  
"Not a lot. She just kept saying I was extremely interesting. She said I would be useful." He said, shivering slightly. "Her gaze was really intense. Like she wasn't really there." He said.  
  
The two men stayed silent for a few moments, pondering the mystery that was Virginia Weasley, before Lupin clapped Harry on the back.  
  
"Well, must be off. Afraid I wont be at dinner." He said, walking out of the room with Harry. He smiled and nodded.  
  
"Alright. See you later then. Take care of yourself Moony." Harry said with a smirk. Lupin smiled warmly and walked off down the corridor, Harry as doing so in the opposite direction.  
  
Harry walked a short distance, wondering where Ron was. His ears pricked up, as there was shouting coming from around the nearest corner. Harry followed it and his eyes widened as he found a huge argument going on.  
  
"You stay the hell away from her Malfoy!" Ron yelled, pointing a shaky finger at Malfoy. Hermione was off to the side, looking disapprovingly and impatiently at the both of them. Ginny was standing behind Ron, leaning against the wall, her two goonies both off to the side, watching with interest. Malfoy was smirking.  
  
"The little slut was asking for it! Look at the way she's dressing for Merlin's sake. Any normal guy with a dick would want in her pants." He said smoothly, looking rather bored. Ron flared up and looked ready to burst, before Tulac stepped forward. He grabbed Malfoy by the front of the robes and lifted him up.  
  
"You will not disrespect her ladyship!" he snarled.  
  
"Kill him Tulac." Jaleel wheezed excitedly. Malfoy was glaring at Tulac, both of them ignoring Jaleel's cheering.  
  
"Put me down!" he said. Tulac looked over at Ginny, who simply nodded. Tulac dropped him, and Malfoy's smirk was gone.  
  
"You're a dick tease. It's a wonder you've gone this far without being taken." He sneered at Ginny. Ginny simply smirked at him.  
  
"You've got to have a dick in the first place for me to be able to tease it, Malfoy." She said. Ron grinned widely and Hermione had a hand over her mouth, covering her laughter. Malfoy seemed rather angry with this.  
  
"You forget you're place Weasley." He snapped. He whipped out his wand, but Ginny didn't flinch.  
  
"Come on. Prove you're worthy to stay alive." He snapped. Ginny pushed herself off the wall and walked up to him.  
  
"Are you....daring me to duel with you?" she asked, a smile creeping up her face. Malfoy stood up straighter.  
  
"Yeah, I am." He said. Ginny looked at him for a fraction of a second, before bursting out laughing.  
  
"Me...duel...you?" she breathed. Hey eyes were watering and she was holding her stomach. Harry watched on, getting the feeling that Malfoy was about to get a bit of a shock. Ginny finally calmed down and smiled up at him.  
  
"My poor little boy, you could barely take on Crabbe with your power." She said, taking deep breaths. Malfoy flared up again.  
  
"What's that meant to mean?" he asked. Ginny chuckled, having finally calmed down.  
  
"You are weak. Think I can't tell?" she asked, stepping towards him. Malfoy took a step back. Harry looked at Ron, who looked like all his Christmas's had come at once.  
  
"You are without a doubt, one of the weakest souls I've read! Grangers different though." She said, turning to face Hermione. Hermione listened with interest.  
  
"Grangers on to bigger and better things. She's very powerful. I reckon she's got about the same as Neville." She said. Everyone's jaw dropped.  
  
"Neville? Powerful?" Harry asked. Ginny snapped around and faced him for the first time since last night.  
  
"Oh yeah. He might not show it, but it's there. It's all pent up energy. He only needs the opportunity." She said. Ginny turned back to Malfoy and waved her hand dismissively.  
  
"Be gone. You're no fun anymore. You're not worth my time." She said, and left without another word, Tulac and Jaleel in tow. They four people left stood in silence for a few moments, before Malfoy stormed off, obviously too embarrassed to challenge Ron any further. Ron spun around and ran off for Ginny, Hermione and Harry following.  
  
"Hey! Ginny, wait a sec." He called. Ginny stopped, muttered something to her followers and spun around.  
  
"What?" she asked, putting on a dramatic sigh. Ron smiled.  
  
"Is he really weak?" he asked, amused. Ginny smirked.  
  
"Is it that hard to believe? Why do you think he hides behind his father? He certainly can't handle things himself. I've seen Blast-Ended Skrewts with more spunk than that little wart." She said. Ron snorted. Ginny sighed.  
  
"And to think, I thought he might be interesting to play with." She muttered.  
  
"What about Neville? You've read him too?" Harry asked. Ginny nodded.  
  
"One day, I was passing by your potions class and I was drawn in by him.' She said casually. 'He hates Snape. Oh, you've got no idea." She said, chuckling.  
  
"And when did you read me? Or you know, whatever it is that you do." Hermione said, stepping forward. Ginny smirked.  
  
"When you were telling Pansy Parkinson off for tormenting that first year, Josie Reynolds." Ginny said. Hermione nodded, while Ron raised an eyebrow.  
  
"How do you know Josie Reynolds?" He asked. Ginny sighed and glared at Jaleel.  
  
"Don't ask." She said dangerously, remembering her girl who wouldn't leave her alone yesterday. She shivered and suddenly realized that here she was, having a pleasant conversation with these people. She snapped out of her calm demeanor and went back to her normal self.  
  
"Well, I'm off. Go eat dinner, or whatever." She said impatiently and walked off again.  
  
The trio watched her leave. The looked at each other, shrugged and trotted off to dinner.  
  
***********  
  
* (FLASHBACK) *  
  
"Sit down won't you?" Jerek said waving his hand at the spare seat next to him. Ginny glared down at him, hands tied in front of her.  
  
"I'd rather stand." She snapped. Jerek smirked.  
  
"Now now, you cant eat dinner while standing. It's bad manners." He said. Ginny gritted her teeth and finally sat down. Jerek smiled wider.  
  
"Wonderful. You must be famished. Eat." He said. Ginny looked down at the feast in front of her. As stubborn as she was, she could not hide the fact that she was extremely hungry. She chuckled bitterly.  
  
"And how do you expect me to eat? With a straw?" she said, holding up her bound hands. Jerek smirked, waved his hand and her hands were freed.  
  
"Thank you." Ginny said reluctantly, rubbing her wrists.  
  
"Well, dig in. We have much to talk about." He said, helping himself to the food. Ginny watched him for a fraction for a second, before grabbing some food for herself. She looked around the massive hall. It was a very dimly lit dining room that gave off an eerie feeling. It was what she had imagined Durmstrang's Great Hall to look like. She was sitting at a very ling dining table, but the only two occupants were she and Jerek. Lighting from outside was lighting the room periodically. Ginny shivered, wishing she were home.  
  
"I imagine your petite little head is bursting with questions." He said. Ginny frowned at his tone. He was talking as if it were perfectly normal behavior to kidnap someone from their home.  
  
"You could say that." She said coldly, sniffing her food.  
  
"Do you know why you're here?" he asked, taking a sip of his drink. Ginny glared and nodded. "You do? Please continue." He said, full of interest. Ginny flared up.  
  
"You're using me to get to Harry. Although I can't imagine why, I'm telling you he'll find a way to save me. They all will." She snapped. Jerek seemed very amused by this, which made Ginny even angrier.  
  
"Harry? That Potter boy you dream of? What makes you think this is about him?" he asked. Ginny blinked. She had definitely not been expecting that.  
  
"But...he's who your after." She said, starting to feel a little stupid. 'Isn't he?" she asked. Jerek smiled.  
  
"Not at all. Why? Is there something special about him?" he said, very keenly. Ginny leant back a bit.  
  
"You mean, you don't work for You-know-who?" she said quietly. Jerek frowned slightly.  
  
"Who?" he asked. Ginny swallowed.  
  
"You know....V-Voldemort." She whispered. Jerek suddenly let out a massive laugh, making Ginny jump slightly.  
  
"Oh my, no. No no no. There is no doubt he is extremely powerful, but we don't really concern ourselves with that dimension unless we are called to it." He said, going back to his dinner.  
  
Ginny sat there, staring openly at him. She wasn't being used as bait for Harry, or anyone. In a way, this made her feel a bit better, as it meant Harry and everyone else would not be put in danger. But suddenly, a new wave of panic overtook her as his words penetrated through her.  
  
"Dimension!" she said hysterically. Jerek nodded, but did not look at her. "Where in...another dimension?" she whispered. Jerek nodded.  
  
"Welcome to Quartarz my friend. Your new home." He said warmly. Ginny felt herself begin to feel extremely alone. Her lip trembled and tears were forming in her eyes, but she refused to cry. What hope was there for her now?  
  
"Why me?" she whispered, looking at him in the eye. Jerek sighed.  
  
"Do you not retain any information? As I have already told you. You called for me." He said. Ginny stood up and slammed her fist on the table.  
  
"I did no such thing! Why the hell would I want to be kidnapped by some idiot man with one eye, and taken to an ALTERNATE DIMENSION?" she yelled, breathing hard. Jerek however, was looking at her with indescribable admiration.  
  
"Beautiful. Absolutely exquisite." He muttered to himself. Ginny was still fuming.  
  
"How do I get out of here?" she demanded. Jerek simply continued to stare.  
  
"Sit down Virginia, or be taken back to you room." He said. Ginny remained standing. She hadn't really expected him to tell her how to leave anyway. Jerek sighed and clicked his fingers. Ginny found herself in the clutches of someone big, as Jerek stood up from the table and stood close to her.  
  
"I will enjoy taming you my fiery being. In time, you will understand." He said, stroking her cheek with his rough hand. Ginny pulled away from him and spat angrily at his feet.  
  
"They will find me." She sneered, struggling to get free from the guards hold. Jerek looked down at his feet, and then back up at her.  
  
"No they wont. But what you should really be asking yourself is....do they even want to?" he said, smirking. Ginny frowned as Jerek nodded and the guard took her away.  
  
* (END FLASHBACK) *  
  
"What's happening to me?" Ginny muttered, waling out onto the grounds, her feet making a crunching noise against the thin layer of snow. Ginny sighed, summoned her staff and began training. She really didn't want to think right now, and seen as she had no alcohol, this would be the next best thing.  
  
Ginny was training for what seemed like hours, before Tulac ran up to her.  
  
"My Lady, excuse the intrusion." He said, bowing. Ginny stopped mid kick, sighed and looked at him. She was drenched in sweat and breathing hard.  
  
"What is it?" she asked, stretching.  
  
"Master is wishing to speak to you." He said. Ginny blinked.  
  
"Now?" she asked, confused. Why would he want to speak to her now? Tulac shrugged.  
  
"I'm just the messenger." He said. Ginny chuckled and shook her head.  
  
"No, you're a lot more than that." She smirked. Tulac chuckled and followed her up to the castle.  
  
"Now now My lady, you're making me blush." He joked. Ginny let out a small laugh, but was careful not to let him hear it.  
  
Unfortunately for her, he did.  
  
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*Yes, that chapter wasn't really informative, but I want to have some "Limbo" chapters every now and then.  
  
Please review! 


	10. Chapter 10

* Chapter 10! Yay! Ahem, well anyway, thanks for your reviews, their great!  
  
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Harry walked down the empty corridors of Hogwarts, not really headed for any destination. Some times, he would just wander around the castle, taking in everything about it. And as this was his last year, he seemed to be doing it more often.  
  
He walked past one of the old, unused classrooms before stopping dead, taking three steps back and pressing his ear against the door. It was Ginny; talking to someone he didn't know.  
  
"Master, I really don't think there is enough power to hold off his army. If what you say is true, then it seems very likely that he could very well take over here as well." She said in almost panic.  
  
"What of the Werewolf? How does he show up?" came a low voice. Harry pressed his ear harder against the door, desperate to hear more.  
  
"He's useful. If he takes his potion and keeps his mind, he could definitely rip a few heads off." She said. Harry could almost hear her smiling. "Do you think Porthos will anticipate werewolves?" Ginny asked.  
  
"Who knows? Many of out spies have been killed. We only have a handful left and even now they are in terrible risk." Said the man, almost regretfully. Almost.  
  
"You look tired. Do you wish to return?" he asked.  
  
"No. I'm fine. I told you I can handle this." Ginny snapped loudly. There was a silence, before the man spoke again.  
  
"Very well. Just remember what you have learned." He said, and then there was silence. Harry stumbled forwards slightly as the door was pulled open. He stood up quickly and looked down into the very amused face of Ginny.  
  
"Eavesdropping? That's not very nice Potter." She said, fastening her cloak around her neck and walking off. Harry looked into the room for the person she had been talking to, but there was no one there. Harry raised an eyebrow and followed.  
  
"Who was that you were talking to?" he asked, running up next to her.  
  
"None of your business." She said flatly.  
  
"Why the sudden interest with Remus?" he went on, following her without any trouble. Ginny sighed irritably.  
  
"None of your business." She said again. Harry frowned and grabbed her arm.  
  
"Who's Porthos?" he asked. At this, Ginny frowned, and sighed.  
  
"I really shouldn't tell you. But, seen as you will no doubt have heavy expectations placed on you, I suppose Dumbledore wont mind me telling you." She said. Harry didn't even want to process this information in fear of what it could possibly mean. Ginny rubbed her chin pensively, before turning to him.  
  
"What did happen? You know...with Voldemort?" she asked. Harry blinked. What did that have to do with anything?  
  
"Well...he's dead. There was a war last year and well...we won." He said. Ginny watched him, and Harry sighed.  
  
"I killed him. He's gone." He said. Ginny raised an eyebrow.  
  
"You killed him?" she asked.  
  
"Well, I had help." Harry said bashfully. Ginny smirked.  
  
"Were there losses?" she asked. Harry thought for a moment.  
  
"Well, yeah. Isn't there always in a war? Many people were more emotionally damaged than physically.' He said, sagging slightly. "We're just all...really tired. Now we get to relax." He said. Ginny sighed and hit her hand against her head.  
  
"I was afraid of that." She said, walking off again. Harry followed her.  
  
"You didn't answer my question." He said. Ginny rubbed her eyes.  
  
"You want the truth?" she said irritably. Harry nodded. "Fine. Porthos, in simple terms, is your new Voldemort. He's coming to this dimension to kill everyone in it, and therefore take it over." She said simply. Harry's mouth dropped open.  
  
"W-What?" he asked, no daring to believe it. Ginny nodded.  
  
"Yes, it's true." She said. Harry 's brain went into overdrive.  
  
"Well, what are we going to do about it? I mean, we've gotta get people together!" he said, running a shaky hand through his hair. Ginny sighed.  
  
"Dumbledore knows. He is organizing everything apparently." She said in a bored tone, examining her fingernails. Harry frowned.  
  
"How can you be so calm?" he said. Ginny sighed.  
  
"I'm not calm, but I'm not hysterical either." She said, smirking. Harry went to say something else, when Ginny put up a hand to silence him.  
  
"It's ok Potter. At the moment, we're rallying and alliance. Your dimension has agreed, as had several others. Many more no doubt will be joining as well." She said. Harry let out a breath of relief.  
  
"You sure that's going too be enough?" he asked. Ginny smirked.  
  
"Well, its been working ok so far." She said, walking off again. Harry followed her.  
  
"Ok, are you stalking me?" she asked, not looking at him. Harry chuckled.  
  
"No. Just walking with you." He said, putting his hands in his pockets. Ginny sighed impatiently and stopped.  
  
"Maybe I don't want you to walk with me." She said in a threatening voice. Harry blinked.  
  
"Well then say so." He said, smiling. Ginny started at him. 'Damn him.' She thought angrily.  
  
"Go away." She said. Harry looked hurt.  
  
"I just, wanted to spend time with you." He said, faking a puppy-dog face. Ginny rolled her eyes.  
  
"You are so immature." She said, throwing her arms up in frustration and began walking off again.  
  
"I must be mature enough to have a quickie with though." he called. Ginny froze, her fists clenched at her side. She spun around and found him looking at her expectantly. She strode up to him and looked up into his eyes.  
  
"You wanted it. You KNOW you did." She said, poking him in the chest. Harry frowned slightly.  
  
"So did you. Which is why I don't get the drama that went with it." He said. Ginny stepped back a bit.  
  
"Well...what about you? I didn't see you complaining. Why did you brush me off?" she said, standing her ground. Harry faltered a bit.  
  
"Because...because it was wrong." He said. Ginny frowned.  
  
"Why?" she asked. "And if you say anything about it being because I'm 'Ron's little sister', I am going to kick you in the fucking balls." She said. Harry stayed silent and looked at the ground. Ginny suddenly became very angry.  
  
"Thought so." She snapped, and stormed off, leaving Harry alone in the middle of the corridor.  
  
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Ron sat in front of the fire, gazing into it and thinking hard.  
  
'Should I do it? I should do it. But then they'll come. They cant see her like this.'  
  
"Hey you." Hermione said, sitting in his lap. Ron came back to reality and smiled at her.  
  
"Hey." He said, wrapping an arm around her waist.  
  
"You ok?" she asked, running a finder along the crease in his forehead that would show when he was thinking hard about something. Ron sighed.  
  
"Actually, I'm not." He said, resting his head against her shoulder. Hermione stroked his hair.  
  
"Why? What's wrong?" she asked. Ron sighed and held out a letter for her. Hermione frowned with curiosity, took it off him and read it.  
  
"I've been sitting here for the past hour and a half on whether or not to send it." He said. Hermione finished reading it and sighed, folding it back up and placing it back in its envelope.  
  
"Well, They're going to want to find out that she's back. Especially your parents." She said. Ron frowned.  
  
"But I don't want them to see her like this. I mean, she's changed. And maybe I'm just fooling myself, but I wanna try and get her back to normal before I tell my family that Ginny's back, alive and well." He said. Hermione felt him sag slightly. He must have been very tired.  
  
"I'm sure everything will work out. If you're not ready to tell your family she's back, then don't. Wait a little longer and see how things play out." She said softly. Ron gave a tired chuckle.  
  
"Are you the lost grandchild of Albus Dumbledore? You give out piece-of- mind opinions like he does." He said. Hermione laughed.  
  
"That's probably why I'm Head Girl." She said. Ron chuckled softly and Hermione kissed him on the top of his head.  
  
"Come on, go to bed. You're buggered." She said. Ron laughed, kissed her and let himself be pushed up to bed.  
  
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*Yes, a short little chapter. I hope it was ok nevertheless. Please review! 


	11. Chapter 11

* Here's chapter 11! Thanks for your reviews guys. You're awesome.  
  
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"Look at them Mistress. They are not warriors." Tulac said, leaning on the windowsill. Ginny sighed and did the same.  
  
"I know. Why he would even want this world is beyond me." She said. Tulac nodded.  
  
"Perhaps its not of any other use but to add to his collection." He said. "And perhaps...because it is rather pretty." He said. Ginny turned slowly to him and started at him with amazement.  
  
"What?" she chuckled. Tulac smirked.  
  
"Well, it is. There's actually things' living here. Like that thing called grass. That's nice." He said. Ginny stared at him with amazement.  
  
"When did you turn hippie?" she asked. Tulac raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Hippie?" he asked.  
  
"You know, all peaceful." She said. Tulac shrugged.  
  
"I'm just following your example my Lady." He said, smirking. Ginny blinked.  
  
" I beg your pardon?"  
  
"Well, I don't think I've ever seen you this relaxed. Making yourself at home I believe." He said. Ginny scoffed.  
  
"Don't be stupid. After all this is over, we go home." She said. Tulac snorted.  
  
"Permission to speak frankly My Lady?" he asked. Ginny nodded and Tulac smiled.  
  
"You already ARE home." He said, before walking off and leaving Ginny alone at the windowsill, watching over the snow covered grounds. She frowned and watched the students spending their afternoon out on the grounds, playing in the snow. She frowned.  
  
"Home." She said quietly to herself. If she was being true to herself, this world was definitely more beautiful than Quartarz. Then again, Mad-Eye Moody's face was more beautiful than Quartarz.  
  
* (FLASHBACK) *  
  
"My god." Ginny said, walking to the massive window of her new room. This room was a great deal better than her cell. It was a massive bedroom and had a king-size bed in the middle of it. Many of the pieces of furniture were foreign, but some assorted pieces were familiar. Ginny supposed that they wanted her to feel at home in this new place. Ginny scoffed.  
  
'Fat chance.' She thought, turning to look back out the window. Her face screwed up with displeasure as she looked out into the desert wasteland. It was giving off that eerie shade of red, like the sun was bathed in blood. There was lightning flashing on the horizon, like they were forever trapped in a thunderstorm with no sign of peace.  
  
There were no plants. Dead tree stumps were the only sign that there might have been living things out there. Ginny shivered, as the cold from outside seemed to seep through the glass.  
  
"How are your new quarters? Better?" Came a deep voice from the doorway. Ginny smiled sarcastically.  
  
"The view sucks, there's no heating, but aside from that...oh yeah. It's good quality for a hell dimension." She said, still staring out the window. Jerek smirked and walked up to her, standing at her side.  
  
"You'll learn to accept it." He said. Ginny snorted.  
  
"I don't think I'll be here that long." She said flatly.  
  
"You will when I show you what I want to show you." He said. Ginny sighed, feeling exhausted.  
  
"What in the world could you possibly show me that would make me want to stay here as apposed to home? Unless of course it's Jonny Depp." She said. Jerek frowned slightly, but continued anyway.  
  
"Come. There are things I wish to explain to you." He said, and led her out of the room. Ginny was too tired to argue, so she figured she should co- operate. The quicker this was over with, what ever it was, the quicker she could go to bed.  
  
Jerek led her down dark hallways. Ginny looked at the bare walls. There were no paintings like there were at Hog warts. There were no suits of armor or even any tapestries. The only things that the walls held were flame torches, lighting up the hallways.  
  
They walked around corners and down flights of stairs, before Ginny found herself being led into a room. It wasn't huge, but it was fairly large. There was a table in front of it with a strange looking device on it.  
  
It looked kind-of like a Remembrall, but 10 times larger. It had a foggy mist in the middle, but it wasn't white, it was purple. Ginny walked forward to examine it. She went to touch it, but as she was centimeters from it, she felt a heat wave rush over her hand. She recoiled, no longer wanting to touch it. She turned to her left to see a large tank full of some strange liquid, wondering what it was for. She looked around some more. There were various other objects that she had no idea what could possibly be used for.  
  
"This is our Summoning room. We listen for people who call for us. It has a direct magical link to most of the local dimensions, and a few foreign ones." Jerek said, getting comfortable in one of the large chairs at the center table. Ginny looked at him from the other side of the table.  
  
"You keep saying that. People calling for you. What's that about?" she asked, actually finding herself genuinely interested. Jerek folded his hands and laid them on the table in front of him.  
  
"People are filled with misery, especially from your dimension. Hey always want more. They're never happy. A lot of them have dreams of power, or respect. Many of them just wish to be seen.' He said, looking at her knowingly. Ginny swallowed, but stayed silent.  
  
"They're thoughts are more powerful than they realize. Some of them are quite whispers, while others are so loud its deafening. We pick up these vibes, and take into consideration the souls that send them out. Sometimes if we're feeling generous, we take those dominant out of their misery and bring them here.' He said, waving his hand around. Ginny frowned.  
  
"And you're saying that's why you took me? I didn't....'  
  
"...Call for us intentionally. I know. Nevertheless, your signal had increased in power over the years, and I simply could not ignore it any longer. It wasn't daring to believe that you were powerful. But I am happy to say I was proven wrong." He said, smirking. Ginny's mind was trying to take all this in.  
  
"Me? Powerful?" she said. Jerek stood up.  
  
"Well, we will not know exactly how powerful until your evaluation, but from what I have seen so far, I believe you could be." He said. Ginny wanted to ask more questions, when Jerek sensed this and out up a hand to silence her.  
  
"That's enough for now. You are tired, and you will rest. Come." He said, walking out of the room. Ginny looked around, but her desire not to get lost overtook her and she ran out of the room after him.  
  
* (END FLASHBACK) *  
  
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Ginny sat alone in the dungeons, thankful for the darkness and seclusion. She didn't really want to be bothered right now, and the common room was full of rowdy, excited and hyperactive Gryffindors. Her brother included.  
  
Ginny held out her hand, palm up and a small arrangement of blue flames appeared, illuminating the walls and her face in a pale, blue light. Ginny just held it out in front of her, transfixed by it. It was interesting how something so small could bring out her inner peace that she had almost forgotten she possessed.  
  
In the past year, Ginny had come to accept her separation from others, and had taken it in her stride. She learned that if she wanted something, it would be dangerous to rely on others to be there for her on her journey.  
  
Ginny sighed, clenched her fist and the blue flame disappeared. She got up, walked out of the room and went of in search of Tulac and Jaleel. She suddenly didn't want to be alone anymore. She wanted to do some training, and Tulac was the perfect sparring partner.  
  
Jaleel was useless in that aspect, and it seemed that this was the case in most aspects. Ginny had really begun to wonder why he was actually there with her. So far, he had done nothing but be an annoyance. Ginny frowned, wondering if maybe that's why he was there. To make sure she kept on track with things and not be distracted.  
  
Ginny stopped mid-stride, a feeling of anger rush over her. She wanted to know why he was there, and she was going to find out. Now.  
  
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"Just make sure no-one comes in, ok?" she said irritably at Tulac. He frowned slightly.  
  
"My Lady, are you sure you can do this? It is very draining to get out a signal, especially from the confines of this castle. The magic surrounding it is....'  
  
"Are we done with the lecture? I can do it. Just make sure no-one comes in!" she snapped. Tulac gritted his teeth, but nodded.  
  
"Yes my Lady." He said stiffly. Ginny glared at him, before slamming the door in his face.  
  
Ginny walked into the middle of the room closed her eyes and focused herself. She relaxed and let herself be taken to the center of her power. She stretched her right hand out in front of her and summoned her magic, trying to focus it on the point in front of her.  
  
She had only done this a few times before, and it had gone a lot better than this. She frowned, trying to grip more power. The air around her seemed to vibrate and increase in temperate, as Ginny began to strain herself. She frowned even harder and gritted her teeth, feeling the pressure building near boiling point. She was pushing herself to the limits.  
  
Finally, there was a loud CRACK, and Ginny was thrown backwards against the wall. She landed with a grunt on the hard, stone floor.  
  
"SHIT!" she cursed, furious with herself. She began picking herself up off the floor, when she felt someone pulling her up.  
  
"You alright My Lady?" Tulac asked, moving some loose strands of Ginny hair out of her sweaty brow. She slapped his hand away.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine." She snapped. He stood back as Ginny picked up a chair and threw it angrily against the wall. Thankfully, it didn't break. Ginny put her face in her hand, breathing hard. Tulac took a step forward.  
  
"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself My Lady." He said. Ginny sighed.  
  
"Give me one good fucking reason why not." She said through gritted teeth.  
  
"Because the magic this castle contains is both very ancient and powerful. Even the Headmaster with all his strength would have difficulty summoning a portal in the confines of this building." He said. Ginny looked at him and frowned.  
  
"Master seems to have no trouble." She said irritably.  
  
"It is much easier to get in than it is to get out." He said wisely. "It has nothing to do with power." He said. Ginny relaxed slightly and winced.  
  
"I ache all over." She whined. Tulac smirked and patted her on the shoulder.  
  
"Come and I shall give you a massage." He said, leading her out of the room. Ginny smirked.  
  
"In your dreams." She said, walking off. She didn't notice the look of disappointment on Tulac's face.  
  
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*Hey there. Any good? Please review! 


	12. Chapter 12

* Chapter 12! Can you believe it? Thanks for staying with me this far!  
  
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Ginny looked down at the broomstick, a long forgotten feeling of excitement flooding through her.  
  
"Up." She commanded, and the broomstick flew obediently up into her outstretched hand. Ginny felt it vibrating slightly, as if it were as excited as she was to be getting up in the air. Ginny got onto the broom and kicked off the ground, flying high into the air.  
  
Ginny, being the younger sister of a Seeker, she had learnt to fly from an early age. As she flew around the pitch in meaningless, lazy circles, she smiled, remembering how she used to fly around at the Burrow. She would race Charlie around their property, and he would usually let her win.  
  
Ginny took one hand off the handle, pulled her hair out of its ponytail and let it streak out behind her as she urged the broomstick to go faster. She suddenly got the feeling of recklessness, so she closed her eyes, stretched out her arms and let the wind blow in her face and through her hair, letting her knees take over the driving.  
  
**  
  
Harry walked down onto the Quidditch pitch, Firebolt in hand and was ready for a relaxing fly. He looked up into the sky, and was immediately drawn in by a figure that was already up there. He stood there watching her, wondering who it could be, until the girl let her hair out to show off her mane of fiery red hair in all its glory.  
  
He smiled and watched her fly for a moment. She stretched out her arms and was flying around without any support. Harry was transfixed by this confidence she had in herself and her ability to control a broom. Harry couldn't even remember ever seeing Ginny fly in the entire time he had known her.  
  
Harry smirked, kicked off the ground and flew up to join her.  
  
Ginny felt someone fly next to her. She eyes snapped open as she looked into the happy face of Harry Potter. She put her hands back on the handle of the broom and glared at him.  
  
"Do you mind?" she said irritably, flying around him. Harry smiled and flew around in front of her again blocking her off.  
  
"Move!" she said. Harry simply smiled at her. For some reason, he wanted to see her get fired up. He wanted to see that dangerous gleam in her eyes, but why...he wasn't sure.  
  
Ginny frowned and flew around him again, but Harry was persistent. Ginny grew impatient at the constant interruption, and decided to teach him a lesson. Sure he was a good flier, but so was she. She smirked, spun around and flew off in the opposite direction. Harry was surprised, but recovered quickly and sped off after her. Just as he was about to pull out in front of her, she dove towards the ground and back in the way they had just came. Harry laughed and chased after her, catching in her in no time at all.  
  
Ginny looked over her shoulder to see Harry tailing her. She smirked. 'Let him follow. Idiot.' She chuckled to herself. She flew upwards, did a loop- the-loop and flew back down....but stopped with a jerk that nearly threw her off her broom.  
  
Harry had flown directly in her path, smirking a satisfied smirk. Ginny glared at him.  
  
"Can't you just go away? I was here first." She said, not caring that she sounded like a 5 year old. Harry chuckled.  
  
"There's no reason why we cant fly together." He said, waving a hand around. Ginny frowned.  
  
"Yes there is." She said. Harry raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Oh really? And what is that?" he challenged. Ginny leant closer to him.  
  
"I don't like you." She said, and flew off again. Harry chuckled, not deterred by her at all. He flew of and instead of cutting her off, decided to fly next to her. Ginny chose to ignore him, and picked up speed. Harry smiled and kept pace with her. It really was no trouble, as he was riding a Firebolt and she was riding and old school Comet 260.  
  
Ginny came to a stop turned to him, looking daggers.  
  
"You know, there's a very fine line between irritating, and just fucking annoying." She said dangerously. Harry shrugged.  
  
"If it was that annoying, you would have left already." He said. Ginny raised her leg and kicked him hard on the knee, making him stumble. Harry winced as he looked up at her, frowning.  
  
"What was that for?" he asked. Ginny smirked; satisfied that he was no longer smiling.  
  
"For being annoying." She said smugly. And with that, she dived and let Harry alone in mid air.  
  
Harry rubbed his knee, thinking. A few seconds later, he began laughing. Somehow, the situation was rather amusing. She was funny without realizing it. Harry smiled as he began flying around circles, wondering how much further he could push her.  
  
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Hermione walked tiredly into her room, dropped her bag on the floor and sighed, thankful to be rid of the weight. She went to her desk and put her hair up in a messy bun, ready for a nice bath. The Prefect meeting had been a disaster. Draco Malfoy just would not shut up, and when Ron kept telling him to be quiet, there was of course a fight.  
  
Hermione didn't want to think about it anymore, so she took off her robes and her top half, leaving her in her skirt and bra. She kicked her shoes off, and placed her socks on the floor and went into the bathroom. Hermione was about to continue stripping, when she let out a yelp.  
  
"Ginny! What the hell are you doing in here?" she asked, putting a hand to her chest to calm herself down. Ginny looked up at her from the bath, smirking and sticking a leg up in the air.  
  
"Taking a bath. I hope you don't mind, but the prefect bathrooms are being used. Ernie was rather embarrassed when I walked in on him half-naked with Hannah Abbot." She said, smirking. Hermione chuckled.  
  
"Um, I guess not. How did you get in here?" she asked. Ginny shrugged, blowing bubbles out of her way.  
  
"Password. Ron told me. Isn't he a gem?" she said in a baby-like voice. Hermione snorted, and then realized she was half naked. She went for a towel to wrap around herself, but Ginny chuckled and waved a hand.  
  
"Its ok. We're both girls you know." She said. Hermione relaxed, realizing she was being dumb. She nodded and sat down on the edge of the bath.  
  
"So, I heard about your little problem with Malfoy." Ginny said, sinking lower into the hot bath. Hermione rolled her eyes.  
  
"Tell me about it. The little ferret's still upset about what you said. He kept taunting Ron the whole time." She said, pinching the bridge of her nose as if she had a migraine coming on. Ginny chuckled.  
  
"Ron could beat the shit out of that little prick if he wanted.' She said. 'And to think, I actually wanted to stay with that lot." She said, sitting up again. Hermione's eyes flew open and she looked at Ginny with interest. Ginny sighed, realizing Hermione wanted an explanation.  
  
"Ok, honestly, they day I came back the Slytherins were far more appealing that any others." She said. Hermione frowned.  
  
"Slytherin's aren't tied up with emotion. They aren't all rash and bold. They know what they want. I respect that aspect." She said flatly. Hermione chuckled.  
  
"But you're a Gryffindor. All Weasleys are." She said, putting on a low imitation of Ron's proud voice. Ginny snorted.  
  
"That's the past. I'm not that stupid little girl anymore." She said in a final tone. They sat there in silence for a few moments, before Ginny sighed and began to stand up. Hermione stood up quickly, spun around and went for a towel. Ginny chuckled again at her discomfort.  
  
"Honestly Hermione, why so embarrassed?" she asked, taking the towel that Hermione was holding out for her. Hermione waited a few seconds, before turning around to see Ginny standing there with a huge, fluffy white towel wrapped around her little figure. Hermione smiled and shrugged.  
  
"Just being polite I guess." She said. Ginny smiled, put her hands on her hips and looked Hermione up and down.  
  
"I can definitely see why my brother wants you so bad. You've turned into a sexy little thing, Mi." she said. Hermione looked down at herself, and then back up at Ginny. Ginny walked up to her and kissed her shortly on the lips.  
  
"Thanks for the bath." She said, and walked out of the room, leaving a stunned Hermione alone.  
  
***********************************************************  
  
"Master, you are no-longer watching her?" The servant said. Jerek smirked.  
  
"No. I do not wish to invade her privacy. She said she can handle it, and I believe it. She doesn't lie to me." Jerek said, waving his hand at the mirror in front of him, making the image fade. The servant stood aside as Jerek sighed and sat down at the table.  
  
"What is this feeling Yamin? I don't ever recall feeling it." He said, resting his chin on his hand. Yamin cleared his throat.  
  
"I don't know master. Feelings are complicated. The last time I was allowed to feel something was when I was taken from my mother." He said. Jerek turned to him.  
  
"Tell me about it.' He said. This surprised Yamin.  
  
"Well, er...it was a feeling of sorrow. A pain that's indescribable I'm afraid master." He said. Jerek frowned.  
  
"That cannot be what I feel.' He said. Then he chuckled. 'Feel. I don't feel things Yamin. I am not allowed to. None of us are." He said. Yamin nodded.  
  
"Yes master. That's true." Jerek went to say something, when there was an extremely loud BANG from outside of the castle, and there were many cries of anger. Jerek ran towards the door and threw it open, storming out into the corridor.  
  
"Master! Master!" yelled another guard running down the hall. Jerek frowned.  
  
"What is it?" he snapped, looking around. Many people were running around frantically, many not knowing what to do with themselves.  
  
"Its Porthos. His armies have arrived. Half of the entire Front line has gone." The guard said, clearly horrified, get rather angry. Jerek gritted his teeth.  
  
"Master?" Yamin said behind him, awaiting orders. Jerek glared at the guard.  
  
"Get everyone together." He commanded. The guard bowed and ran off. Jerek turned to Yamin.  
  
"Open the portals. Get everyone here now.' he said firmly. Jerek summoned his staff and grasped it hard. "It finishes here." He said. Yamin stumbled.  
  
"A few worlds will take longer than expected!" he yelled over the new wave of stone crumbling from the outer layer of the castle. Jerek frowned.  
  
"Get the closest then. Leave the foreign ones for a backup." He said, running off. Yamin looked determined and ran back down to the summoning room, knowing that this would most likely be the final war.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
*Ooooh, suspense! Lol. Anyway, The world that everyone's in is one of the foreign ones, so they wont know about the war going on until later.  
  
And also, just so there wont be any confusion...the kiss Ginny gave Hermione is totally, simply and absolutely not gay. It was a simply friendly kiss. So, don't freak out. Lol.  
  
Anyway, thanks for reading so far. Please review! 


	13. Chapter 13

* Chapter 13! Well, in this chapter, things are going to start to change. Drastically. Ginny's definitely going to be showing signs of normalcy in his one. Lol. Thanks for reviewing so far.  
  
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"Unicorn horn, added with Wheat grass and Foretgue Puss. Honestly Ron, you should know this."  
  
"I do. I've just.... momentarily forgotten it that's all."  
  
"You shouldn't be 'momentarily forgetting' anything. You need to know this for a reason you know."  
  
Ron sighed an exasperated sigh and dropped his quill on the table.  
  
"You know, you're starting to sound like Hermione." He said, smirking. Ginny looked down at him and scoffed.  
  
"Is that a compliment?" she asked, leaning back on her hands. Ron smiled.  
  
"Of course it is." He said, looking up at his little sister. Ginny chuckled at his dopey expression.  
  
Ginny and Ron were sitting in the library. Ron was sitting at one of the desks trying to finish his potions essay, and Ginny was sitting on the desk next to his work, her legs grossed and hanging over the edge of the table.  
  
"How is it you know all this anyway? You haven't even done a 5th year level." Ron said, picking up his quill again. Ginny smirked.  
  
"Just because I wasn't here to learn things, doesn't mean I didn't learn anything." She said elusively. Ron sighed.  
  
"Ok. Point taken." He said, going back to his textbook. Ginny sighed and looked around the library. The smell of old books and dust was so familiar from her days as an 11-year-old, studying for her essay for Professor Lockhart.  
  
Ron spun around, as there was a loud wheezy chuckle from behind the nearest bookcase. He frowned as he saw Jaleel looking at the books with interest and amusement. Ron sighed and looked up at Ginny.  
  
"Hey. How long are those goonies staying for anyway?" he said. Ginny came out of her daze and looked at him.  
  
"Huh?" she asked. Ron chuckled and pointed to Jaleel with his thumb over his shoulder.  
  
"Him and the other one. How long are they staying for?" he asked. Ginny frowned.  
  
"Until the mission is....' and she stopped. Ginny's eyes widened, as if she were seeing for the first time the situation she was in. Ginny had been talking to Ron casually ever since she found him in the library. They had been talking about work, and other things and to Ginny; it was shifting back into her old self. Just a reflexive action. Ginny looked at him with horror and jumped up off the table, backing quickly towards the door.  
  
"I've gotta go." She said quickly, before bolting out of the library, leaving a very confused Ron Weasley looking after her.  
  
**  
  
"Stupid!" Ginny cursed at herself angrily, throwing the doors of the entrance hall open and walking out into the freezing Saturday night. Ginny stomped out further, not caring that she was quickly becoming very cold.  
  
"What the hell am I doing?" she said angrily, kicking snow out of her path. She was furious with herself for acting so laid back with Ron. She wasn't allowed to be like that. She didn't want to be like that.  
  
Ron was the same as all of them. Maybe even worse. She was meant to hate Ron, not sit there helping him with his homework and joke around with him. Ginny grumbled to herself as she climbed up into the low branches of the tree near the lake and closed her eyes. She wrapped her cloak around her like a blanket and drew her knees up to her chest.  
  
"Damn it." She said angrily, as the cold wind blew around her. She shivered slightly, but did not give in. She had to punish herself for being weak. She would stay out there until she was ready to face them again.  
  
***********************************************************  
  
* (FLASHBACK) *  
  
"Come. You must be bored with sitting in here." Jerek said, walking up to Ginny. She did not look up from her book.  
  
"You're information about the seasons as wrong. There's only 4. Not 5." She said, turning the page and ignoring his last statement. Ginny was reading one of the textbooks the library held on her dimension. Jerek sighed impatiently and took the book from her.  
  
"Come. I have something to show you." He said and walked out of the library. Ginny frowned after him. For the past month, her place of privacy had been the library. She smirked, knowing that Jerek was now most likely regretting showing her it in the first place. Ginny sighed, got up and reluctantly followed Jerek out of the room.  
  
She followed him down the now familiar hallways until they turned into the Summoning Room. Ginny was suddenly confused. They had not been in here for almost 2 weeks.  
  
"What are we doing in here?" She wondered out loud. Jerek smirked.  
  
"As I have said. I have something to show you. Something abut your family." He said. Ginny's head shot up. She looked at him with interest.  
  
"What about them? Have they found me?" she asked excitedly. Her heart began beating very fast. Even after a month, there was still hope. Jerek continued to smirk at her. He waved his hand at an object in front of him. The material covering it flew off it to revel a mirror. Ginny raised an eyebrow.  
  
"What's this about?" she asked. Jerek held his arm out for her.  
  
"This mirror is a gateway to your world. It is a special mirror. It shows us many things. Come. Watch." He said. Ginny walked up to stand next to him, and looked into the mirror. At first, all she could see was Jerek and her reflected in the mirror. But Jerek waved his hand in front of the mirror again, and the images of her and him faded to be replaced by others.  
  
At first, there were blurred silhouettes of figures, but they slowly began to focus. Ginny's heart raced even faster as she recognized the figure of her brother.  
  
'Ron." She whispered. It was like watching a TV program. The sound suddenly came on and the rest of the picture sharpened. Ron was in his bedroom, sitting on his bed with his head in his hands. Ginny went to call out to him, when someone else entered the room, looking down at Ron.  
  
"Hey mate. How are you feeling?" Harry said, shutting the door. Ron sighed and looked up at him.  
  
"I'm ok. Its just.... such a relief." He said, smiling. Harry nodded and sat down next to him.  
  
"Yeah, I know. I wrote to Hermione. She had the same reaction as all of us." He said. Ginny felt a wave of guilt rush over her. Have they been worried? She didn't want to cause them grief. She only wished to go home.  
  
"I think we're all in agreement that this is a good turn for us." He said. Ginny was confused. What was going on?  
  
"Yeah. Mostly everyone who knew her is feeling relieved about it. It's been a long time after all." Harry said. Ginny frowned. Relief?  
  
"I know. We gave up 3 weeks ago. But since then, it's been a weight off our shoulders. Especially Mum's." he said. Harry patted him on the back as Ron sighed again. "Now we can forget about it and get on with our lives without her ghost hanging over our heads all the time." He said. Harry smiled and nodded.  
  
"Definitely. Things can only go up from here." Harry said. Ginny watched with horror, her eyes watering.  
  
"Come on, let's go for something to eat." Harry said, standing up. Ron looked at him and smiled, standing up also.  
  
"Yeah. Hopefully not corned beef. I hate that stuff. Maybe we could get some chocolate frogs." He said, following a laughing Harry out of his room.  
  
Ginny stood there, tears falling down her cheeks as the image faded and was replaced with the reflection of her and Jerek again. Ginny choked out a sob, and put her face in her hands. She couldn't believe it. They had given up. They were happy she was gone. It was a burden off their shoulders. They didn't love her. Ginny felt Jerek put a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Grieve. It will ease you transition." He said softly. Ginny pulled away from him and turned away from him, facing the opposite wall. She felt utterly betrayed. They no longer cared about her. When had this started? Where they ashamed of her because of the Riddle incident? Or had it started before that? Ginny shuddered to think about it.  
  
"What more evidence do you need? From the moment you met me I have told you that you are not respected there." Jerek said, walking up behind her. Ginny continued to cry silently.  
  
"Turn and face me Virginia." Jerek said. Ginny was too emotionally heartbroken to care what happened now. She had no family. She had nothing. She spun around slowly and looked up into Jerek's face.  
  
"Stay here with me. Be respected. Learn how to harness your power." He said, looking her straight in the eye. Ginny was still doubtful.  
  
"Step out of she shadows that those beings have kept you in and be proud to be who you are. Listen to the voices you have long ignored. Learn from me. Become the woman you know you were destined to be." He said. Ginny let her head drop. She desperately wanted to hug her father. For him to tell her everything was all right and that she was loved. But if what Ron said was true...  
  
Jerek tilted her head up making her look at him again. He ran a thumb along he cheek, brushing her tears aside.  
  
"It takes but one little word my precious." He said. Ginny stared at him. A new feeling of revenge flowing over her. They didn't like her. They didn't love her. Harry and Hermione no longer wanted to know her. She felt a painful twinge as she thought of Harry. Her childhood crush that she had loved from afar. And what of everyone else? Her friends. Neville, Colin. They were the same.  
  
Ginny suddenly felt rather angry. She was more than just little Ginny who couldn't take care of herself, and this was her chance to show them. She WOULD show them. She'd show them all. Ginny took in a deep, shaky breath.  
  
"Ok." She whispered.  
  
* (END FLASHBACK) *  
  
**************************************************************  
  
"Do you ever regret your decision Tulac?" Ginny asked, walking down the cold corridors in the middle of the night. Tulac frowned.  
  
"I have made many decisions my Lady. You will have to specify." He said, smirking. Ginny sighed impatiently.  
  
"Your commitment. To me. To everything." She said. Tulac thought for a moment.  
  
"No." he said finally. Ginny raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Why?" she asked, actually curios. Tulac sighed.  
  
"If I was to serve under any command, I feel myself inescapably blessed by the gods that it was you who I am to follow." He said. Ginny laughed softly.  
  
"Tulac, I get the impression you might be developing a forbidden interest in you Mistress." She teased. Tulac chuckled and smirked.  
  
"Not at all my Lady. Not at all." He said, putting his hands behind his back and looking straight ahead. Ginny watched him for a moment. He was definitely different from his usual sternness. Usually, he would not speak unless spoken to. He was very 'up the rules' and would normally show no emotion.  
  
But he was changing, and as much as she fought it, so was she.  
  
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*Hey. How was that? Well, now we know why Ginny's so pissed at them all. I hope that was believable. If it's really bad, I'll re-do it and try again. I want to please you guys!  
  
Please review! 


	14. Chapter 14

*Chapter 14! Well, this story is slowly coming to a close. But dot worry, it's still got a few chapters to go!  
  
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Ginny sat watching the sunset in the most unlikely of places. She was sitting on the roof of the Astronomy tower, broomstick at her side. She rested her arms on her knees that were drawn to her chest, and let her mind wander.  
  
It was a good change to see one sun in the sky instead of three. She closed her eyes and took in the scent of the snow that had fallen on the castle. The sound of students making their way nosily down to dinner was echoing through the empty hallways of the castle, and up to the tower she was now sitting on.  
  
Ginny was pulled out of her silent, pensive state by a figure flying into her line of peripheral vision. She sighed and smirked, resting her chin on her arms, already knowing who it was.  
  
"Trying to lead my down a path of redemption Potter?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the setting sun. Harry chuckled as he climbed onto the roof and sat down next to her, wrapping his cloak around him.  
  
"Not at all. Just wondering why you're not coming down to dinner." He said, getting comfortable. Ginny raised an eyebrow.  
  
"How did you know I was up here?" she asked. Harry smirked and pulled out the Marauders Map from his cloak pocket.  
  
"It's a valuable source of information." He sighed, wiping it clean and putting it back in his pocket again. Ginny rolled her eyes.  
  
"Where did you get that anyway?" she asked, shifting around. Harry smirked.  
  
"Ask Fred and George." He said. Ginny snorted.  
  
"I'd rather spend my time not knowing." She said quietly. Harry didn't hear her and went on.  
  
"Sooooooo, dinner. Come on, think about what's down there! Chicken wings, mashed potatoes, chips, scrumptious date pudding....'  
  
"Careful now. Don't have an orgasm or anything." She said smirking. Harry chuckled.  
  
"Just trying to convince you.' He said. When Ginny didn't answer, he put a hand on her arm. "Come on. How can you not be hungry?" he asked in an amazed tone. Ginny snorted.  
  
"I'm watching the sunset. Go away. I'll be down later." She said. Harry stared at her for a moment, before nodding, getting on his broom and flying back down.  
  
Ginny sat there long after the sun had finally set, before deciding that she actually was hungry. She got on her broom, flew down into the castle and decided to pay the house-elves in the kitchen a visit.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
Ginny sat at the Gryffindor Table the next morning, accompanied by Harry, Ron and Hermione. Ginny looked around as students began making their way slowly into the Great Hall for breakfast. She sighed, as there was no sign of Jaleel or Tulac.  
  
"Double Potions this morning. Can you believe it? I'm really not going to be sad to be saying good-bye to that git at the end of the year." Ron said, munching on a piece of toast. Harry nodded in agreement, but Hermione stayed silent. Ginny could tell however that her feelings were the same.  
  
Ginny looked around at the hall and decided to take a peek at some of the auras that it contained. In various places, there were both weak and strong auras. Many of the aura's she read were not at their peak, as many of the students were far too tired to be emotional enough for a proper reading. Ginny looked up at the teacher's table and decided to take a look at them.  
  
Snape was interesting to look at. His aura showed off power, and Ginny wondered how much was really in there. She moved along as her eyes slipped over Lupin. Ginny sighed as she looked at him. His aura held a vicious, primal beauty about it. It was very intriguing to look at. Ginny took one last glace at him, before looking at McGonagall. Hers held a stern power about it. It was a very solid, confident type that not many people held. Ginny privately admired her for that.  
  
And finally her eyes rested on Dumbledore. Ginny took in a breath as she took it in. It held as much confidence and power as McGonagall's did, and Ginny was very keen to see him at his magical peak. It seemed to glow around him, giving off a vibe of age, wisdom and experience. Ginny would have watched him longer, but she was rudely brought back to reality by Jaleel running into the hall, screaming hysterically.  
  
"MY LADY! HEADMASTER!" he yelled running into the middle of the floor. Jaleel looked up at Dumbeldore.  
  
"It's started." He said, and fainted. Tulac ran into the hall seconds later, looking panicked and out of breath. Dumbeldore stood up.  
  
"Is this true?" he asked Tulac. Tulac caught his breath, looked at Ginny and nodded. There was a silence as Ginny processed this information, before she looked around the hall and stood up.  
  
"Don't just sit there like stunned mullets! Get to your fucking common rooms!" she yelled, jumped over the table and ran out of the hall, Tulac in tow. Dumbledore, ignoring her swearing followed after her.  
  
"You heard her. Prefects lead their houses to their dormitories now!" he yelled striding quickly out of the hall. The spell that had been holding the students in their seats was broken and they all jumped up at once. McGonagall followed Dumbledore out of the hall.  
  
"Come on! Gryffindors this way! Harry, where are you going?" Ron called as Harry pushed his way through a sea of people.  
  
"I'm going to help. Meet you down there!" he called over his shoulder, knowing that Ron and Hermione would follow as soon as they got the chance.  
  
***  
  
"What's our status?" Ginny asked, cloak billowing out behind her as she and Tulac walked down the corridor and into the entrance hall. Tulac sighed, opened the doors for her and they walked out into the grounds.  
  
"They attacked in full. Porthos is heading the front. Our defense was weakened, but others have arrived. Many of the local dimensions have arrived. Yamin told me that...'  
  
"Yamin? Where is he now?" she said, looking back towards the entrance as Dumbeldore and the others walked out to meet them.  
  
"He went back a while ago. After he informed us that is." He said. Ginny sighed as Dumbledore walked up to them.  
  
"Is everything in order?" he asked. Ginny nodded.  
  
"Yes. I want to go in first. To see if everything's all right. If it's not, I'll send Tulac back out to you." She said. Dumbledore went to comment, when a portal like the one Ginny had first arrived through opened next to them.  
  
"Do you wish to be accompanied besides Tulac?" McGonagall asked. Ginny thought for a moment.  
  
"Lupin. We could use him." She said, looking at Lupin over Dumbledore's shoulder. Lupin stiffened slightly.  
  
"You've taken the potion?" she asked. Lupin nodded.  
  
"Yes, I have." He said. 'But I don't know what good I will be there. Is it....'  
  
"The full moon forever rises in Quartarz. There is never anything less." Tulac said, cutting him off. Lupin nodded.  
  
"Very well. I'll go." He said, handing over his wand to McGonagall. Ginny looked determinedly at the portal.  
  
"I'll close it when I go through. To prevent infiltration." She said. Tulac nodded at the teachers and walked through. Ginny stepped aside for Lupin to walk through. He sighed, drew himself up and walked through the portal. Ginny looked at the group of teachers one final time, before stepping in front of the portal. She went to step through when a figure out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.  
  
Harry came to a sudden halt a few meters away from the group. For a split second, their eyes met, before Ginny looked away and walked through the portal.  
  
A few seconds later, it dissolved out of sight.  
  
"We'll wait here. Minerva, would you be so kind as to see Jaleel to the hospital wing?" Dumbeldore asked kindly. McGonagall nodded stiffly and walked off towards the castle. Harry jogged up and closed the remaining distance between him and the group.  
  
"Professor...'  
  
"Aren't you meant to be in Gryffindor tower Harry?" Dumbledore said turning to him, his eyes twinkling. Harry smiled, but Snape looked as though he were trying extremely hard not to comment.  
  
"Professor! Where's Ginny?" Ron called, running up to meet them with Hermione. Dumbledore sighed as they stood next to Harry.  
  
"Virginia, Tulac and Remus have traveled to Quartarz to oversee matters. We are to await here until further notice." Dumbledore said. Hermione's mouth dropped open.  
  
"Rem---Er, Professor Lupin has gone?" she asked. Dumbledore smiled.  
  
"Yes." He said simply, turning back to the patch of empty space that had only seconds ago been the gateway to another world. Ron put his hands on his hips.  
  
"So? What do we do now?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.  
  
"We wait Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore said, conjuring some chairs. He sat down and crossed his legs, folding his arms on his lap. The trop just stood there, not really accepting this as an answer, before they finally sat down.  
  
And waited.  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
*Oh my god! A cliffhanger! Please don't be mad! Anyway, there won't be much of the war, as Porthos and the other stuff is really not the main focus of this story.  
  
Please review. 


	15. Chapter 15

* Chapter 15! So, am I updating too fast? Let me know and I'll take a chill pill. Lol. I'm re-posting this chapter. Like Gallandro said, there needs to be more fireworks!  
  
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"I can't believe we're not there to help her! This is crazy. She's my baby sister for god's sake. I lost her once, what if she doesn't come back?" Ron muttered to himself, shaking not from the cold, but from nerves. Hermione took his hand and looked at Harry for support.  
  
"Don't worry mate. Ginny's can take care of herself. Besides, Tulac and Remus are there. And I reckon that Tulac would rather die than see her get hurt." Harry said. Ron sighed and put his face in his hands.  
  
"I hope your right." Came Ron's muffled voice. Hermione gave Ron a sympathetic look and rubbed his back.  
  
They had been sitting there in the cold for what seemed like forever, but in reality could only have been and hour. Professor McGonagall had come back some time earlier and hadn't even attempted to send the trio back to Gryffindor Tower, knowing it would be useless.  
  
Harry looked around the grounds. He had been doing so every few minutes as if there was going to be a sign of their return. Harry knew that he wouldn't be able to handle it if Ginny or Remus didn't return. Remus was his last connection to the legendary Marauders, and he was also one of his best friends. And Ginny.... Harry was still quite confused about what she meant to him. But first and foremost, she was his friend.  
  
Harry looked over at Ron again, knowing that HE would definitely not be able to handle it if he lost Ginny again. Not after last time.  
  
* (FLASHBACK) *  
  
"She's been taken. She has to have been! She wouldn't just leave!" Ron said, walking around in meaningless circles. Harry sat on a rock, watching his best friend in hysterics.  
  
"What's everyone else doing?" Harry asked. Ron ran a shaky hand through his hair.  
  
"Bill's coming over as soon as he can. Charlie's out with dad. The twins are out with Percy at the Ministry and well....mum's still in bed." Ron finished sadly, looking up at his mother's window. Harry sighed.  
  
"Can we do anything?" he asked. Ron frowned.  
  
"No. I'm meant to stay here and look after mum." He said. Harry nodded. They both felt the same feeling of helplessness. They couldn't just sit there and do nothing when Ginny was missing. Was she hurt? They didn't know. Ron finally picked up a rock and threw against the nearest tree with such force the trunk of the tree cracked open slightly.  
  
"Damn this waiting! WE should be doing something!" he yelled.  
  
"Ron? Honey are you ok?" came Mrs. Weasley's weak, crackly voice from the open window. She had been up there for ages, crying and shaking. Ron sagged.  
  
"Yes mum. I'm fine." He called. The boys waited until they were sure it was safe to talk again. Ron sat down in a heap next to Harry on the ground.  
  
"I feel so helpless Harry." He said, putting his face in his hands. Harry sighed, not really knowing what to say.  
  
"I know." He said. Ron shook his head.  
  
"No, you don't understand. She's my little sister. I was meant to protect her. To make sure nothing would EVER happen to her again.' He paused and Harry let him pull himself together.  
  
"After the whole Chamber of Secrets thing, I swore to myself that I would be there for her. I would never let her feel like that again.' Ron looked up at Harry with shining eyes. 'I failed her Harry." He whispered. Harry sat down on the ground next to Ron and put his arm around his shoulders.  
  
"Ron! What's happening?" Came a voice from the back door. Harry and Ron span around to see Bill standing there, completely out of breath. Ron jumped up as if something had bitten him.  
  
"She's Gone Bill! We woke up this morning and we couldn't find her. We thought y'know, maybe she's gone out to a friends, but there was no note or anything!" he said, running up to his eldest brother. Bill sighed and put a hand on his head.  
  
"Where's mum?" he asked. Ron sighed and pointed to her window.  
  
"She wont come down. She's gone really quiet. Although I don't blame her." He finished quietly. Bill sighed and patted Ron on the shoulder.  
  
"Don't worry. We'll find her. You'll get your chance to help." He said. This seemed to lighten Ron's spirit slightly.  
  
"Thanks Bill." He said, smiling a little. Bill sighed.  
  
"Ok, I'm going to see mum. Then I'm going to the ministry to see if there's anything I can do there. Don't get yourself in a rut. We're gonna find her." He said in a determined voice. Ron nodded and Bill disappeared into the house. Ron turned to Harry.  
  
"He's right. We're gonna find her." Harry said. Ron sighed, let his shoulders sag and walked into the house to comfort his mother.  
  
* (END FLASHBACK) *  
  
Harry remembered that day like it was yesterday. Harry looked over at Ron again. He had the same slump in his shoulders as he did the first time she went.  
  
"Shall I go get some hot chocolate? It's freezing out here." Hermione said, rubbing her upper arms. Ron shook his head.  
  
"No. I'm fine." He said quietly. Hermione sighed and turned to Harry for an answer. He also shook his head. Hermione sighed and plopped back down on her seat.  
  
Harry looked over at Dumbledore. He seemed to be dozing off slightly. Harry marveled at the man's ability to stay calm in a crisis. The group sat there in silence for a few minutes, before Snipe spoke up.  
  
"Headmaster. I must be getting back to my classes." He drawled. Dumbledore looked up at him with twinkling eyes.  
  
"Very well Severus. Shall I inform you when they return?" he asked. Snape stood up and shook his head.  
  
"No. I have no doubt there will be commotion enough for me to be alerted." He said. Dumbledore smiled and nodded as Snape gave Harry one final ritual glare before striding off towards the castle.  
  
"Albus, surely there must be something we can do?" McGonagall said. Ron's head snapped up, looking hopeful. Dumbledore sighed.  
  
"I'm afraid there isn't until we hear back from them." He said.  
  
"Isn't this sitting here killing anyone else?" Ron yelled suddenly. He stood up and walked over to Dumbledore.  
  
"Come on! Surely you've got the power to open a portal like that. Ginny told me you were powerful!" he said, pointing an accusing finger at Dumbledore. Hermione stood up and walked over to him.  
  
"Ron, this isn't Professor Dumbledore's fault." She said urgently, but Dumbledore simply watched Ron glaring at him. Ron stared at him for a few seconds, before calming down slightly.  
  
"Sorry sir." He muttered. Dumbledore smiled.  
  
"Its quite alright my boy." He said. Harry got up and went to say something, when there was a loud CRACK, and the portal opened next to him, making Harry jump back slightly.  
  
"Stand back." McGonagall said, pulling a struggling Ron away from it. Harry took 5 tentative steps backwards and watched with interest.  
  
For a few moments, nothing happened. But then an elbow appeared, and then disappeared. Harry went to get a closer look, when Tulac literally came flying through the portal and fell on his back hard in the snow.  
  
"What happened?" Ron asked, standing next to Harry. Tulac ignored him, got up in his feet and ran back in. Everyone exchanged a confused glance, before Ginny came thought, walking backwards and was apparently dragging something with her.  
  
"For fucks sake Lupin, it's over! Get your ass out here!" she yelled. Harry's eyes widened as he realized that Ginny was dragging with all her might by his tail, Remus Lupin in his werewolf form. The snarling beast finally stopped resisting and followed Ginny out of the portal, followed by Tulac. Ginny was completely out of breath. Tulac when to relax, when he was pulled back in by a bodiless arm.  
  
"Bastard!" Ginny yelled and ran back in. The remaining 5 people didn't know what to do. Suddenly, a man raced out. He was bleeding heavily from his forehead and he looked around madly. He yelled something in a foreign language and ran towards Dumbledore. Dumbledore raised his wand with lightning speed.  
  
"Stupefy!" he cried. And the man fell slack at his feet. Tulac ran back out, looked at the man and his face contorted with anger.  
  
"Piece of Scum!" he yelled picked the stunned man up by his clothes and practically threw him back in the portal. Harry was amazed. He didn't know what to say. Then, Ginny and Tulac ran back out again. Ginny turned towards the portal.  
  
"Take them up to the castle! If they don't talk, they die!" she yelled. A man poked his head through the portal and nodded.  
  
"I think we've taken them. Stay here, close the portal and make sure they don't come through." He said. Ginny nodded and the man disappeared again. Ginny waved her hand at the portal and it disappeared. She bent down, resting her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.  
  
Harry saw Ron fidget. He obviously didn't know what to do. Hermione rushed forward to see to Remus, who had collapsed and was slowly changing back into his human form. She took off her cloak and wrapped it around him.  
  
Harry looked at Ginny. She was soaked as if she had just had a shower fully clothed. Her arm was bleeding and her clothes were ripped in various places. Tulac was the same, although he looked a bit more beaten up than Ginny did.  
  
"Come. Don't say anything. We're going to the hospital wing." Dumbledore said, walking up to Ginny. She took deep breaths, nodded and followed him up to the castle. Harry turned around to see McGonagall conjuring a stretcher for Remus. He looked at Ron for a split second, before Ron bolted off after Dumbledore and Ginny. Hermione was helping McGonagall.  
  
"You ok?" Harry asked Tulac. Tulac regarded him for a moment, before nodding.  
  
"Nothing time won't heal. I've had worse." He said, flexing his bleeding arm and walking off towards the castle.  
  
"What happened?" Harry asked, walking with him. It was then that Harry realized how tall Tulac really was.  
  
"We arrived just as it was ending. It seems our correspondence was delayed, so we missed out on most of it." He said, not looking at Harry. Harry went to ask something else, when Tulac put up his hand to silence him.  
  
"No more questions. You can ask later. First we have to make sure her Ladyship is ok." He said. Harry nodded and held the door open for him. Tulac walked through, followed by Hermione, Remus and McGonagall.  
  
Harry took a deep breath and followed, hoping that Ginny was going to be ok.  
  
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*Yes, not as long as I usually make them. I hope it was ok anyway! Let me know. Please review! 


	16. Chapter 16

* Chapter 16! Well, like I said before, this story is slowly coming to a close. I hope you've all enjoyed it thus far! Thanks for your reviews! They're awesome!  
  
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"So, are you sure everything is in order?" Dumbledore asked, surveying Ginny over his glasses. Ginny sighed.  
  
"Yes. How many ways can I say it?" she said irritably.  
  
"What exactly happened?" Dumbledore asked. Ginny rubbed her eyes and swung her lags over the edge of the bed.  
  
"Well, it took a while for Yamin to get the portal out to us, that's why we missed all the action. Some of the other worlds arrived there first.... and with force. Porthos attacked in great numbers, but his army was no match for 15 allied armies. Luckily, we didn't need enforcement from here." She said, waving her hand around. Dumbledore nodded.  
  
"Ow. Honestly woman I am fine." Tulac said, trying to pull away from Madam Pomfrey fussing. Ginny chuckled and looked at the bed next to her where Madam Pomfrey was attending to Tulac.  
  
"Tulac, it's better to co-operate. Just let her heal you." She said. Tulac took on an almost sulking face.  
  
"Yes, My lady." He said irritably. Ginny smirked and turned back to Dumbledore.  
  
"So. Can I go now?" she asked impatiently. Dumbledore smiled and stood up.  
  
"Yes of course. There are some very eager, very worried young people waiting to see you outside." He said, his face showing great amusement. Ginny resisted the urge to roll her eyes.  
  
"Might as well get it over with.' She muttered, turning to face Tulac. "Wait here until I come back for you. You need rest." She said. Tulac gritted his teeth in annoyance, but nodded anyway. Ginny looked at Remus one final time.  
  
"He was a big help. I think there's going to be a fare few werewolves roaming around different dimensions now." She said with a smirk. Dumbledore nodded and stood aside, letting Ginny walk past him and out into the corridor.  
  
**  
  
"Ginny! Jesus, are you ok?" Ron asked, running up to her. Ginny frowned and backed away from him.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine." She said irritably, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Ron brushed this off and continued following her down the hallway.  
  
"Ginny, what happened anyway?" Harry called. Ginny spun around, figuring the quicker she told them, the quicker she would be rid of them.  
  
"Porthos was captured, his armies fell. It's a simple story. All of the alliances were put to good use." She said. Hermione sighed.  
  
"Well that's good news. So, there no chance....'  
  
"Of an uprisal? No chance in hell." She said, cutting Hermione off. Harry was confused.  
  
"That's it? The huge war just came to a close like that?" he asked. Ginny frowned.  
  
"What? You actually wanted him to come here and blast the shit out of everyone?" she asked. Harry shook his head.  
  
"Well no. But a few more details would have been nice." He said. Ginny sighed and shifted her weight onto her right leg.  
  
"Ok, fine. Half of our great castle is now officially rumble. A shockwave totem wiped out our entire front line of defense. We had no warning. The local dimensions came in speed, to which we are very thankful, but even they had great losses. Can I just say that you're very lucky you weren't needed.' She paused as she looked at their faces, which showed wrapped attention. Ginny smirked and went on.  
  
"As I said before, we got there as it was all ending. We only had a few hundred to deal with. There are still a few stragglers and some still at large. But they wont get far. So, as far as we can tell, the danger is over. Porthos is destroyed. End of story." She said. The four of them stood in silence for a few moments, before Ginny sighed impatiently.  
  
"So, any more questions?" she asked, hands on her hips. Ron laughed.  
  
"Are you kidding? Were just glad you're ok." He said, relief evident in his voice. Ginny frowned.  
  
"How long have you been waiting out here?" she asked. Ron was slightly taken back by this question.  
  
"Er, ever since you went in. About 20 minutes I guess." He said. Ginny frowned.  
  
"Why?" she asked. Ron raised an eyebrow.  
  
" What do you mean why? Because, I was worried about you. I didn't want to loose you again." He said. Ginny laughed bitterly.  
  
"It didn't bother you much last time." She snapped, spun around and stormed off. The Trio exchanged a confused glance, before they ran off after her.  
  
"What do you mean it didn't bother me much last time?" He asked, grabbing Ginny's arm. She spun around again and glared at him.  
  
"Do you really have such a short memory span? Honestly. How easy it is to forget huh?" she snapped. Ron stepped back a bit, and Harry could understand why. Since Ginny had been back, they had seen her in many phases of irritation and annoyance. But right now, she looked like she was ready to kill someone.  
  
"What are you talking about?" he asked. Ginny stepped forward.  
  
"I remember it as if it were yesterday. You think I didn't hear? You think I don't know? I'm not stupid Ronald Weasley. I don't know why you've been so chummy to me since I came back either. You don't have to keep up the act anymore. I know." She said in a dangerously low voice. Ron frowned.  
  
"You know what? What are you talking about Ginny?" he asked quietly. Ginny laughed a bitter laugh.  
  
"I saw it. Jerek showed me. You and him!' she said, pointing at Harry. 'You both were there!' her voice was getting louder and louder.  
  
"My heart broke that day Ron! I never could have imagined that you would ever think like that." Her voice was cracking. She was rambling. Her feelings were flowing out of her as if someone had finally unblocked the floodgates.  
  
"Never in my existence, could I ever imagine that you would stop loving me Ron! Never! Do you know how many nights I cried over you? How much I wanted you to barge into the room, run to me and tell me everything was going to be ok?" she yelled, poking Ron in the chest. Ron was staring at her with amazement.  
  
"And you two! Two of my best friends! Hermione, my only true girlfriend. And all this time it was only pity wasn't it?" she yelled at Hermione. Then she turned on Harry.  
  
"And you! Do you have any idea how much I loved you? I would have DIED for you for Christ sake! But you never saw me. Never!" she yelled. Her eyes were watering. Ron took a step forward.  
  
"I never stopped loving you Ginny! If only you knew how much of a wreck I was when you....'  
  
"I DO know Ron! I saw it. You and Harry. You said it was a relief to no longer have to have me around. That.... you could finally live your lives in peace. You're a bastard Ron. I hate you!" she spat, pounding her little fists against his chest. Ron looked horrified.  
  
"Ginny, I never said that!" he insisted. Ginny sniffed and scoffed. But Ron was persistent. "No! Ginny listen to me. I never said that!" he said, grabbing her by the arms and looking her in the eye. Ginny reluctantly looked back at him. Slowly, her expression softened.  
  
"Ginny. We loved you, and we never got over losing you. Don't you see that?" Harry said, looking at her too. Ginny looked at them both hard in the eyes. She shook her head and slowly backed away.  
  
"No. I...I-I saw you." She said. Harry shook his head.  
  
"No. What-ever you saw was a lie.' He said, walking up to her. "Ginny, believe us. We never said that. We would never feel that way about you. We love you." Harry said softly. Ginny stared at the three of them, not daring to believe it. She was confused. This couldn't be true. But Harry and Ron weren't lying. She could see that. Ron reached out for her again.  
  
"Ginny...'  
  
"No!' she yelled, stepping back a significant distance. "Don't touch me." She whispered. She stepped back even further. She had to get away. Ginny wrapped her arms around herself, shaking her head.  
  
"Stay away from me!" she yelled, and ran off. The trio stared after her, shock written all over their faces. Ron suddenly became rather angry.  
  
"Who told her I didn't love her? What idiotic, sadistic, fucking asshole....'  
  
"Who knows?" Harry said.  
  
"Should we go after her?" Hermione said. Ron shook his head.  
  
"No. Give her time. She knows the truth now." he said. Harry nodded, and the three of them went back to the common room, waiting for her to come back.  
  
****************  
  
Harry lay in bed that night, thinking late into the night. The events of the day would re-run over and over through his head. What had Ginny been told about them? And why? What was the purpose of telling her such lies? To make her not want to come home? To make her become their enemy?  
  
Any then his mind would go to another place.  
  
'Loved me?' he would think with disbelief. In his entire history of being alive, he could never recall EVER being told that he was loved. Of course, he knew his parents had loved him, and he knew that Sirius had loved him, even though he never said it. It was one thing to know, but it was another thing completely to actually hear it.  
  
Of course, the fact that Ginny had feelings for Harry was never a secret. Nearly everyone had known that Ginny had a crush on the 'Boy-who-lived', himself included. But Love? Harry never knew it went that deep.  
  
Harry sighed, turned over and let himself start to doze. He hoped that Ginny would be able to sort out her feelings. He hoped that he would get a chance to make a mends.  
  
He hoped he would get another chance for love.  
  
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*Soooo, howzzat? I hope its ok. If you want more detail, ill repost it. Thanks for reading so far!  
  
Please review! 


	17. Chapter 17

* Hey there! Here's chapter 17! Thanks for reviewing so far. Oh and by the way, I re-did chapter 15 slightly. So, if you want to read it again and let me know if it's better, I would be eternally grateful!  
  
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Ginny sat alone in the corner of the dungeons, her knees drawn up to her chest. The only way she could be seen was by the moonlight shining onto her red hair.  
  
She was crying. She had been crying for the past 4 hours. She didn't care that her legs had gone to sleep and that her hands were prickling with the cold. She felt numb, betrayed and scared.  
  
"Here you are. I have been combing this entire castle looking for you." Came a deep voice from the doorway. Ginny didn't answer. Tulac walked over to her and bent down at her level.  
  
"Are you alright My Lady?" he asked. Ginny held back more tears and looked at him with shining eyes. Tulac looked at her with concern.  
  
"Have you ever felt like your hearts been shattered into a million pieces Tulac?" she asked. This surprised Tulac.  
  
"Yes my Lady. I think I have." He said. Ginny wiped her eyes.  
  
"Tell me about it." She said softly. Tulac sat down next to her.  
  
"You don't want to hear about that My Lady. It is of no interest to you." He said casually. Ginny shifted and looked at him.  
  
"No I do. Tell me. Please?" she asked, looking at him hopefully. Tulac sighed.  
  
" Very well. However I only remember part of it.' He said, leaning against the wall. "I was taken from my mother. The local village leader said I had potential and I was to be taken to Quartarz to be trained.' He said slowly, wracking his brain. "I remember my mother crying. I remember me trying to cling to her. But the leader was stronger.' He paused. 'She wouldn't stop screaming.' He said. Ginny gave him a sympathetic look.  
  
"But, it no longer matters." He said, shaking himself out of the memory. Ginny looked at him.  
  
"How can you say that? It's your family." She said. Tulac shrugged.  
  
"We've been taught not to have family. Emotions are messy and get in the way." He said, as if reciting it from a rulebook. Ginny scowled.  
  
"You really believe that?" she said harshly. Tulac frowned.  
  
"Don't you?" he asked. Ginny sighed and stretched her legs out in front of her.  
  
"I don't know what to think anymore." She said. Tulac crossed his legs and looked at her.  
  
"Permission to speak frankly My Lady?" he asked. Ginny leant her head against the wall, closed her eyes and smiled.  
  
"Of course Tulac." She said. Tulac smirked.  
  
"You've never been one to follow orders or act sensibly. You've always been one of rash and emotional decisions. I don't think that you've ever stopped loving your family." He said. Ginny's eyes snapped open and she looked at him.  
  
"What are you implying?" she asked. Tulac shrugged.  
  
"All I'm saying, is that the part of you that you have tried to keep hidden, might very well be the part of you that evil is trying to destroy. Everything happens for a reason. And maybe the fates had bigger plans for you than Jerek did." He said. Ginny sighed.  
  
"Give me your opinion of Jerek. Honestly." She said. Tulac hesitated and then smirked.  
  
"He is obsessed with power. Nothing matters to him. Nothing. Not even you." He said. Ginny blinked. "He doesn't know everything though, does he?" he said, leaning closer to her. Ginny smirked.  
  
"No. He doesn't." she said. Tulac grinned.  
  
"Follow your instincts My Lady. I think it will take you where you're meant to be." He said. Ginny chuckled.  
  
"What happened to the 'Mr. Serious, Never-breaks-the-rules or shows emotion Tulac' that I first met nearly 2 years ago?" she asked. Tulac smirked and shrugged.  
  
"Maybe he never really existed." He said, standing up and holing out a hand to her. Ginny took his hand and let him help her up. She smiled up at him.  
  
"What ever decision you make My Lady, I will stand true to you." He said, bowing. Ginny sighed and smiled at him.  
  
"Thank you Tulac." She said.  
  
***  
  
Harry was dozing off in front of the fire. He couldn't sleep up in his room, and for some reason he found it easier to relax in front of the fire.  
  
"Hey. Couldn't sleep either huh?" Ron said, sitting next to him. Harry smiled and continued to stare into the fire.  
  
"No way." He said. Ron chuckled.  
  
"I just wish I could understand why she thought we....' Ron stopped mid sentence. Harry looked at him. Ron was looking at someone behind Harry. Harry spun around to see Ginny standing there, looking very cold and tired. Her eyes were red and her face was completely white.  
  
"Ginny..." Ron seemed to be at a loss for words. She sniffed and looked at the floor.  
  
"You didn't say it? Did you?" she said, looking back up at them. It wasn't a question. Harry shook his head, but the spell that had been holding Ron on the spot was broken. He walked forward and smiled reassuringly at her.  
  
"Why would you think I would say that? I mean, after everything we'd been through? I thought we were close." He said, a little hurt evident in his voice. Ginny's shoulders sagged.  
  
"I saw it. Jerek showed me in this mirror. It was so real." She said, laughing slightly. Harry stepped forward.  
  
"Couldn't you tell it wasn't us?" he asked. Ginny sighed.  
  
"Look, there had been stuff going on before that. Long before that actually." She admitted quietly. Ginny let her head drop and Harry heard her begin crying.  
  
"Jesus, look at me! It's been two years since I've cried, and now I cant fucking stop." She said, chocking out a laugh. Ron smiled and took another step towards her.  
  
"So, what had been happening? Why didn't you come to one of us about it?" Ron said.  
  
"Because I thought I had it under control. I thought I would be ok. It wasn't brought out into the open until Jerek came for me." She said, sighed. Ron frowned.  
  
"Who's Jerek? Is that the prick that took you?" he said, staring to get angry. Ginny rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yes Ron. And there is no point getting all fired up. That's the past." She said, walking around him and flopping down onto one of the chairs near the fire. Harry sighed.  
  
"She's right.' He said he said to Ron, facing her. 'So, what are you going to do now? I mean, you believe us don't you?" he asked. Ginny nodded.  
  
"I think so.' She said. Ginny closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the chair. "I don't know what I'm gonna do." She said, pinching the bridge of her nose. Ron sighed and bent down in front of her.  
  
"Well, I hope you're going to stay here." He said softly. He reached out to stroke her hair. Ginny flinched slightly at first, but then relaxed, letting Ron comfort her. The three of them sat in silence for a few moments, before Ginny finally sat up straighter.  
  
"Ron, would you mind if I spoke to Harry alone for a few minutes?" she asked. Ron looked reluctant, but nodded anyway.  
  
"Sure. I'll see you later." He said to Harry. Harry nodded and watched Ron walk up the staircase up to bed. Harry sat down on the couch adjacent to her.  
  
"What drove you this way Ginny?" he asked. Ginny sighed.  
  
"Myself. Incase you never noticed, I used to be rather insecure.' She said, raising an eyebrow at him. Harry smiled and nodded. "Yeah well, insecurity turned into low self-esteem and low self-esteem turned into dark, depressing thoughts. Thoughts I tried many times to get rid of, but they always seemed to be stronger, especially after my first year." She said. Harry didn't want to interrupt her, so he stayed silent.  
  
"You know how Ron has issues with having to live up to expectations? Well, it was kind-of the same for me. I mean, I've always been known as 'Ron's little sister'. Even when I cared for you so much, you never really SAW me. No, don't try to say you didn't, because I know you did. But you weren't the only one. It was the same for many people." She sighed, tears welling up in her eyes again.  
  
"I just, wanted to be seen so badly." She said, closing her eyes as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Harry smiled.  
  
"Well, you've definitely made an impression in the past few weeks." He said. Ginny laughed and wiped her eyes.  
  
"Yeah, I guess so." She said. Harry got up, walked over to her, bent down and brushed a tear off her face with his thumb.  
  
"I just want you to know.... that I did see you." He said. Ginny stared at him for what seemed like forever, before he smiled, patter her hand and went up to bed, leaving her alone in the common room.  
  
Ginny frowned with determination as she processed this information.  
  
She knew the truth now.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
"Wake up." Ginny said irritably, prodding Jaleel. Jaleel snorted, wheezed and rolled over away from her. Ginny rolled her eyes and whacked him on the arm. Hard.  
  
"AAAAHHHH!" he screamed, practically jumping out of bed. Ginny frowned.  
  
"Shut up idiot! It's me! Do you want to wake up the whole fucking castle?" she whispered harshly. Jaleel relaxed slightly as he looked at Ginny.  
  
"Sorry My Lady. I-I didn't realize that it was...'  
  
"Yeah yeah, sure. Look, I need to know when Master contacts you." She said impatiently. Jaleel looked at her with amazement for a moment, before sitting up properly in the infirmary bed.  
  
"H-How do you know that M-Master contacts me?" he stuttered nervously. Ginny chuckle.  
  
"What? You think I didn't know? Honestly Jaleel, you should know better than that." She said. Jaleel smiled nervously. He was beginning to sweat slightly.  
  
"Well, h-he just contacts m-me. I don't know when he will or when....'  
  
"Has he told you anything recently?" she said, cutting him off. Jaleel swallowed.  
  
"Y-yes." He said. Ginny frowned.  
  
"What?" she said, leaning closer. Jaleel backed away slightly.  
  
"H-He is coming. To this dimension. T-To escort you back to Quartarz." He said. Ginny blinked.  
  
"He's coming here? Personally?" she said, slightly surprised. Jaleel nodded. Ginny let out an impatient breath. "When?" she said.  
  
"T-Tomorrow. Although I d-don't know what hour." He said. Ginny's eyes flashed.  
  
"And when were you planning on informing me of this?" she sneered. Jaleel quivered.  
  
"In the morning My Lady. I-I wanted to let you recover from the....'  
  
"Shut up." She snapped. Jaleel looked quite terrified of her. Ginny stood up and ran a hand through her hair, a sudden thought hitting her. Her face showed something that it hadn't done for the past 2 years.  
  
Panic.  
  
"Shit." She said quietly, and ran out of the infirmary without a backward glance.  
  
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* Well, I think the next chapter will most likely be the last. But, who knows. I might have grounds for one more. Anyway, can I just apologize for my spelling and grammar errors. See, I get really excited when I start writing, and my fingers go into overdrive! Lol, so I apologize. Its not like I don't proof read, cause I go over them like 4 times before I post them.  
  
Please review! 


	18. Chapter 18

* Ooooooh, chapter 18! Wow, we've been here for ages! Well, anyways, thanks for reading so far!  
  
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"Hey Ginny! Where are you going?" Harry called as Ginny walked straight past him, not looking at him.  
  
"Don't follow Harry!" she called over her shoulder. Harry raised an eyebrow as Ron and Hermione walked up to him, holding hands.  
  
"Hey. Where's she off to in such a hurry? Isn't she coming to breakfast?" Ron asked, yawning. Harry shrugged.  
  
"I don't know. She told me not to follow." He said. Hermione looked at him with both eyebrows raised.  
  
"That can't be good." She said, looking down the hallway that Ginny had occupied seconds before. Ron chuckled.  
  
"What could she possibly be doing that would be so bad that........."  
  
"Maybe we should follow her." Harry interrupted, rubbing his chin with his thumb. Hermione nodded.  
  
"Definitely." She said, dragging Ron off with her. Harry took one last look at the Great Hall, before following.  
  
**  
  
Ginny stormed out of the entrance hall and out into the snow-covered grounds, cloak billowing out behind her. She smiled as Tulac turned around to meet her, scarf tied around his neck. Ginny raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Where'd you get this?" she said, flipping the end of it around. Tulac shrugged.  
  
"Just a souvenir." He said. Ginny chuckled at his childishness, when Jaleel came stumbling up to them.  
  
"M-Master is coming. Soon." He said. Ginny frowned down at him.  
  
"Good.' She said flatly. "I have some business to discuss with him." She said, looking out at the forest.  
  
"Hey Gin! Why no breakfast?" came a familiar voice. Ginny spun around to see Ron, Harry and Hermione running across the grounds towards them. Ginny frowned.  
  
"I told you not to follow!" she said angrily, pointing at Harry. Harry's eyes widened, but he smiled anyway.  
  
"And you really expected me to listen?" he said. Ginny rolled her eyes and smirked.  
  
"No, not really." She said. "But you really shouldn't be here. If Jerek comes and............'  
  
"Jerek? He's coming? Here?" Hermione said, taking a step forward. Ginny nodded.  
  
"Yeah. Although we're not sure what time.' she said, giving Jaleel an evil look. She looked around again. Ron raised an eyebrow.  
  
"So you're going to wait out here until he gets here? It could take all day!" he said. Ginny sighed.  
  
"Yeah, I know. But I do not under any circumstances want him going into the castle." She said in a low voice. Ron raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Why?" he said, mimicking her tone. Ginny smiled sarcastically.  
  
"Because you three will be in there. Now go!" she said, pushing the three of them backwards towards the castle. Harry laughed and walked around her.  
  
"No way! We're staying here." He said. Ginny frowned as Hermione and Ron walked around to join him.  
  
"Look, you're really not getting this! You have to go into the castle. I'm not kidding!" she said more urgently. Ron frowned.  
  
"No. I wanna have a piece of the bastard who took you." He said determinedly. Ginny rolled her eyes.  
  
"For gods sake, will the three of you get back in the fucking castle? I cant............'  
  
"My Lady! Master approaches." Jaleel said in a voice unlike his normal tone. Ginny spun around to see him couched over in an awkward position. His head snapped up and he looked like he was having a premonition, as his face was sweating and contorted with concentration.  
  
The 5 of them watched him with interest for a few moments before he zoned out for a few seconds, and then went back to his normal, nervous, twitchy self. Ginny looked back at the trio, who were shivering slightly with the cold.  
  
"We're not going anywhere Ginny." Hermione said in a final tone. Ginny sighed and looked at them.  
  
"I really want you to go into the castle, but I know you're not going to. So............' she said, running forward and throwing herself onto Ron, hugging him. Ron was surprised at first by this, but he recovered and hugged her tightly back. They stayed like that for a few seconds, before Ginny drew back, and then moved on to Hermione.  
  
"Ginny, what's all this about?" Hermione chuckled, hugging her best friend. Ginny didn't answer. She pulled back and smiled at Hermione, and moved on to Harry.  
  
She looked at him for a few seconds, before throwing her arms around him. Harry smiled and hugged her tightly around the middle. She pulled back and looked at the three of them.  
  
"Ok. Now you definitely have to listen to me ok?" she said, looking at them all in turn. They nodded and Ginny went on.  
  
"What-ever happens, you cannot under any circumstances show any emotion. Especially you." She said, pointing at Harry. The three of them were dumbfounded.  
  
"What?" Ron asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"No anger, no joy, no annoyance............ nothing, ok?" she pressed. Harry looked at her as if she had gone mad.  
  
"Are you serious? We cant............'  
  
"I know it's going to be hard. But no matter what happens, you've gotta try. Please?" she said pleadingly. The trio exchanged a glance, before they all nodded. Ginny went to say something else, when there was a very loud 'CRACK' from behind her, and a portal opened. Ginny spun around quickly.  
  
"Remember what I said." She said, looking at them. They nodded and Ginny went to walk over to the portal............ when she stopped half way. Harry was going to ask her what was wrong, when she spun around, ran back over to him and threw herself onto him, kissing him deeply.  
  
At first, Harry was too stunned to do anything, but her finally recovered and kissed her back. A few seconds later, Ginny pulled back form him, her hand lingering on his cheek before she spun around and walked back towards the portal. Harry stared after her with a dopey smile on his face. He looked at Ron and Hermione beside him, their mouths wide open. Harry smiled and shrugged, turning back to the scene in front of him.  
  
Ginny stood in front of the portal, a determined face matching her composure perfectly. She summoned her staff as Tulac came up to stand beside her.  
  
"You have made a decision My Lady?" he asked, not looking at her but at that portal. Ginny nodded.  
  
"I have." She said. Tulac went to say more, when Jaleel showed up on Ginny's other side, looking excitedly at the portal.  
  
And he appeared. Jerek walked through the portal into their dimension, looking around as if he owned the place. He looked around briefly, before his eye rested on Ginny. He smirked and walked forward with his arms open.  
  
"Ah, my little flame. How long has it been?" he said, walking up to her. Ginny, Tulac and Jaleel bowed.  
  
"Master." Ginny said stiffly. Jerek put his finger under her chin and brought her up to look at him.  
  
"Too long have you resided here." He said, smiling. Ginny said nothing as Jerek looked over her shoulder.  
  
"A good-bye party? My, how quaint." he said, walking around her towards the trio. Ginny spun around to say something, when she realized that her brother and two friends were now not the only ones outside. In fact, half the school was, following a very interested looking Dumbledore.  
  
"Is this the famous Dumbledore? It is interesting to finally meet you." Jerek said, not even bothering to walk up to him. Dumbledore smiled.  
  
"Likewise." He said, bowing his head respectfully. Jerek said nothing more to him, turned around and walked back to where he was before.  
  
"Well, you have done all you set out to do Virginia. Now, it is time to go home." He said, turning around to walk through the portal.  
  
"Not just yet." Ginny said, stepping forward slightly. Jerek paused mid- turn.  
  
"Why not?" he said, turning back to look at her. Ginny grinded her teeth.  
  
"Because I have a few things to discuss." She said in a low, confident voice. Jerek smirked.  
  
"Surely it can wait until we return home." He said, holding his arm out for her. Ginny shook her head.  
  
"No. We discuss this now." She said. Jerek frowned slightly as he took another step towards her.  
  
"In front of all these people Virginia? What you have to discuss with me sounds as if............'  
  
"Shut up and answer my questions." She snapped, her patience quickly evaporating. Jerek's eyebrows rose.  
  
"Very well. Although we really do not have a lot of time." He said, folding his arms over his chest. Ginny gritted her teeth.  
  
"Why did you come for me 2 years ago? Really?" she asked. Jerek smiled.  
  
"As you have been told countless times, you called for me." He said simply. Ginny shook her head.  
  
"No. When you trained me you never had any other apprentices with you. I was the only one. After two years if you were really interested in helping people as you said you were, you would have brought more people." She said. Jerek continued to smile.  
  
"You are powerful Virginia. You were going to be useful. No others that we heard were as worthy as you." He said. Ginny continued to glare at him.  
  
"You are thinking too much into this. Come, let us go home." He said. Ginny shook her head and took another step backwards.  
  
"I am home." She said. Jerek's smile faltered.  
  
"Don't be stupid. Here? After all that you............'  
  
"I would never have agreed to stay if you hadn't shown me that mirror!" she yelled. Then realization dawned on her face. "It was a fake wasn't it? All just a ploy to convince me to stay with you." She said, chuckling at her own stupidity. Jerek smirked.  
  
"My, aren't we in a 'pointing accusing fingers' mood." he chuckled, although there was barely any humor in it. Ginny let her head drop slightly.  
  
"You said you would never lie." She whispered. Jerek shrugged.  
  
"What can I say? I lied." He said, smirking. Ginny's head shot up. She gave him the deadliest glare she could muster.  
  
There was a deafening silence that seemed to go for an eternity, but in reality could have only lasted a few seconds. Ginny switched her attention to the surrounding audience. They were standing there, watching with wrapped attention. And to her immense relief, neither Harry, Ron nor Hermione had broken their word.  
  
Ginny felt her eyes beginning to water.  
  
"I wasted two years of my life with you over a lie." She spat. Jerek said nothing, but just continued to smirk. "I hate you." Ginny said through gritted teeth. She was so angry she was starting to shake. Her knuckles were white around her staff.  
  
"So, this is where you have decided to stay is it? To spend the rest of your existence in this dismal world?" he said, looking sympathetic. Ginny nodded.  
  
"Yes. It is." She said angrily. Jerek sighed.  
  
"I will be difficult to replace you my little flame, but I will wait. There will be another." He said. He looked at her sides.  
  
"Jaleel, Tulac. Come, we're leaving." He said, turning around. Jaleel chuckled happily and ran off to Jerek's side. Tulac however, remained. Jerek noticed this and spun around, looking at him dangerously through his one eye.  
  
"Tulac, I said come." He snapped. Tulac stood up straighter.  
  
"I took a blood oath to serve and protect her ladyship." He said. Tulac held out his right hand and a sword materialized at his command. He held it steadily out in front of him.  
  
"And I will." He said, frowning at Jerek. Jerek glared at him, while Ginny was looking up at him with amazement.  
  
"Tulac............' she began.  
  
"No My Lady. I stand by you." He said in a final tone. Ginny was too surprised to argue. Tulac had never disrespected an order form Jerek. Never.  
  
"Very well. If this is what you have chosen. It definitely will be no trouble replacing you." Jerek snapped. Tulac didn't seem offended by this at all.  
  
"We will be back Virginia. Either way, I was to come here anyway and dominate. This place will fall, and I will be worshiped." Jerek said so only she could here. Ginny smirked.  
  
"Who said anything about you leaving in the first place?" she said, tensing up. Jerek laughed.  
  
"Going to kill me Virginia? You have power, but not that much." He said, laughing. Ginny just continued to smirk.  
  
"Remember the evaluation day? Where you tested me for my full potential?" she said. Jerek calmed down and smirked, his one eyes flashing dangerously.  
  
"Yes, of course. You gave us a reading of how much power your little body holds. I must say I was surprised." He said. Ginny smiled.  
  
"Well guess what? I lied." She said. Jerek's smirk fell as Ginny raised her staff, twirled it around over her head and brought down again lightning fast, sinking it hard into the snow.  
  
As soon as her staff hit the ground, there was a shockwave that nearly blasted everyone off their feet. Many people shielded their eyes against the sudden gust of wind and power that was emitted. When they finally found it safe to look, their mouths dropped open.  
  
Where Ginny was standing, the snow had been simply blown away to revel the green grass underneath. It was as if she, Tulac, Jerek and Jaleel were now standing in a crater. The air around Ginny seemed to be crackling with electricity, as she stood ready. Jerek looked quite stunned. He recovered quickly, summoned his staff and smirked at her.  
  
"Very well. Let us do this." He said.  
  
****************************************************************  
  
*Hey I had to finish that there, so I could make another chapter. Yay! Ahem, anyway, please review. I'll re-do it if it's not good enough.  
  
Please review! 


	19. Chapter 19

* Hey guys. I am so sorry I've taken ages to update, but I've just started back at school and haven't found the time. Plus, I've been stumped as to how I can make this chapter work. So, I hope you enjoy it.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ginny tensed up as Jerek continued to stare at her, a wild, murderous gleam in his remaining eye. Ginny took an opportunity to turn her head slightly.  
  
"All of you, back in the castle!" she yelled at the crowd of students. But to her annoyance, they were not going to move.  
  
"For fucks sake! Dumbledore, get rid of them!" she yelled angrily, not taking her eyes off Jerek. There was a moment's silence, before the sound of people moving rose up into the air. Ginny let out a sigh of relief as she and Jerek began to move around together in a circle, neither yet attacking.  
  
"My, how selfless of you. Wanting to protect the kiddies." He said, smirking. Ginny said nothing, knowing he would continue taunting her.  
  
"I don't understand you girl. You had everything you could ever want at your disposal. Respect, power,............'  
  
"But not family.' She said, cutting him off angrily. ' No love, no emotion......... I thought I didn't need it, but I do. You didn't drive me away from it............ you drove me towards it." She said, glaring at him. Jerek smirked.  
  
"Family. Such a waste of time and energy. Thankfully I never had one." He said. Ginny frowned and suddenly felt sympathetic.  
  
"I pity you then." She said genuinely. Jerek continued to smirk.  
  
"I neither need or want your worthless pity. Don't presume to............' But he didn't get to finish, as Jaleel, who had been giggling at his side had ran forward, straight at Ginny. Ginny tensed up, but Jaleel never reached her, as Tulac jumped in the way and caught Jaleel around the middle, causing both of the two men to roll a distance away from Ginny. Ginny watched them wrestle for a second, before turning back to Jerek, who was grinning.  
  
"Come now, we didn't start this just so we could dance around each-other. Are you going to attack?" he said, flexing his arm. Ginny went to answer when she realized that she was now facing the castle.  
  
And then she spotted them.  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione were still standing there, watching her with nervousness. Ginny desperately wanted to tell them to bugger off, but she couldn't risk it. Ginny read them quickly. Thankfully, none of them were showing anything.  
  
And then Jerek lunged. Ginny wasn't ready and didn't react quickly enough as he swung his leg around and kicked her in the jaw, causing Ginny to fall over backwards onto her back.  
  
"Ginny!" Ron yelled and went to take a step forward, but Hermione pulled him back as Ginny growled angrily to herself and got up. Jerek stepped back away from her, smiling. Ginny wiped blood away from her lip and glared at him.  
  
"Care to retaliate?" he said, spreading his arms out in challenge. If looks could kill, Ginny would have killed Jerek by now. "Come on. You wanted to............' But he didn't get to finish as Ginny ran forward and punched him square in the jaw, causing his head to rock back.  
  
And then it started. They threw their staffs aside and began fighting. Kicks and punches were being thrown without any mercy. Harry's mouth dropped open as he saw Ginny giving as good as she was getting, which was definitely saying something. Harry winced as Jerek threw a hard punch into Ginny's abdomen. Ginny recovered fairly quickly and glared at Jerek. For the split second that Ginny stood still, Harry stared at her with awe. The air around her seemed to be crackling with power. And even though he could not read people like she could, he could tell she was extremely angry.  
  
"Jesus Hermione, let go!" Ron said irritably. Harry turned to look at them.  
  
"No. Remember what she said?" she said with the same annoyance.  
  
"I don't give a shit what she said!" he said, trying to get Hermione to let go of him, but she was adamant. Harry was sure that Ron probably could have gone over anyway, but wouldn't want to take Hermione with him.  
  
"Sit still traitor!"  
  
Harry looked back to his left to see Tulac holing Jaleel in a sort of body bind. Jaleel was trying frantically to get away from him.  
  
"You're the traitor! Let go of me!" he yelled in his high-pitched voice. Tulac held his sword to Jaleel's throat.  
  
"Move, and I'll do it." He said in a low voice. Jaleel froze, too frightened to continue struggling. Harry turned back to see that Ginny and Jerek had broken apart. They were breathing hard.  
  
"I must say............you've improved Virginia." Jerek panted. Ginny, who had been bending over on her knees stood up straighter. Her face was supporting a bruise and cuts. "If this had been last year, you would have already lost." He said, clutching his side. Ginny sighed.  
  
"Shut up. I've listen to you talk shit for far to long." She snapped. She held out her hand, palm up and her staff flew up from the ground and into her hand. Jerek smiled and did the same.  
  
"Care to raise the stakes I assume?" he said, twirling his staff around. "Never one for messing............' but again he didn't get to finish as he was thrown back onto his back by a thick, purple light shooting at him from Ginny's staff. Ginny smiled a satisfied smile as she started towards him. Jerek flipped himself up and jabbed his staff at her, sending a white energy bolt towards her. Ginny's eyes widened and with lightning fast reflexes, she stood her staff in front of her, causing a shield to pass around her. The bolts hit the shield with a strong force, but they didn't penetrate it. They rebounded off it at went soaring off in different directions. Ron ducked as one came flying towards his head.  
  
"Very clever Virginia. But you cant hold that forever." Jerek said, standing ready. Ginny glared at him, waved her free hand and the shield evaporated. Ginny didn't give Jerek time to say anything else, as she sent the same sort of attack towards him. Jerek's eyes widened, and instead of trying to shield himself, he tried to dodge them. He ducked and sidestepped most, expect for one that hit him hard in the shoulder. Ginny laughed out a short, satisfied laugh.  
  
"Damn it!" Jerek yelled. He put a hand to his shoulder. When he pulled it away there was blood all over it. Jerek glared back at Ginny, who was still standing ready. Ginny raised her hand and made a gesture, as if to say 'bring it on.' Jerek wiped spit away from his chin and attacked her again.  
  
Harry's mouth dropped open as they stared battling again, this time with more aggression. He couldn't believe that this was Ginny! Ginny who used to put her elbow in butter when she saw him. Ginny who was always too shy to act normally around him.  
  
Ginny was moving her staff around expertly, not giving Jerek any time to do anything but try to defend himself. Harry, although a complete amateur, knew that Ginny was good. He wondered who had taught her to fight like this. But now he started to worry, as Ginny seemed to be tiring faster than Jerek.  
  
Harry winced as Jerek threw his staff around and hit Ginny hard in the shoulder. There was a slight crunch, and Harry thought that Ginny's shoulder was now dislocated. She yelled out in pain and Jerek took the opportunity to send a power stream at her. It hit her in the middle and she was thrown off her feet, landing hard in the snow meters away.  
  
"GINNY!" Ron yelled, taking a step forward. Ginny wasn't moving. Harry ran forward towards her. She was lying face-down in the snow. Harry turned her over and fought the urge to cry out in surprise.  
  
She looked terrible. Her left eye was purple and swollen horribly. Her lip was bleeding and there were assorted cuts all over her body. There was a gash along her right arm, blood slowly seeping out of it. She was very baldy beaten up, and Harry had not realized how bad it must have been until now.  
  
"Ginny?" Harry whispered softly. Ginny groaned and opened her good eyes lazily. Harry smiled reassuringly. "You ok?" he asked, helping her sit up. Ginny laughed weakly.  
  
"Oh yeah. I'm great." She said, smirking. Harry went to say something, when Ginny coughed out in horror. "What the fuck is he doing!" she said urgently. Harry spun around to see Ron running towards Jerek.  
  
"Son of a bitch!" Ron said angrily. Jerek seemed too stunned to react as Ron slammed his fist directly into Jerek's face, causing him to stumble backwards.  
  
"Harry, stop him!" Ginny urged, tugging on the front of Harry's jumper. Harry looked down at her.  
  
"What about you?" he said.  
  
"I'll stay with her." Came Hermione's voice from behind him. Harry was reluctant, but stood up none-the-less. He was about to hurry over, when Ginny stopped him.  
  
"Wait Harry." She called softly. Harry bent down to her again. Ginny reached over and grabbed her staff that was lying beside her. "Use this." She said, holding it out to him. Harry looked down at it with confusion.  
  
"I don't know how to use it." He said. He looked around quickly as he heard Ron yell something at Jerek again.  
  
"You'll figure it out." Ginny said, handing it to him. Harry took it and watched her for a moment. Ginny frowned.  
  
"Stop staring at me you ass! Go!" she said weakly. Harry smiled, nodded at Hermione and ran over to where Ron was standing in front of Jerek, looking absolutely livid.  
  
**  
  
"My My. It is still amazing to see power in such young beings. I must say you like your sister are powerful." Jerek said, wiping blood from his nose. Ron's nostrils flared.  
  
"You kidnapped her. I ought to kill you, you fuckwit." He said through gritted teeth. Jerek simply laughed, still looking at Ron with interest just like Ginny had when she first read him.  
  
"You could try. But perhaps your friend feels he can do it better." He said, looking at something over Ron's shoulder. Ron spun around to see Harry running up to him, carrying Ginny's staff.  
  
"Is she ok?" Ron asked, now looking very worried. Harry nodded, not taking his eyes of Jerek, who looked extremely bored.  
  
"Go on. Go see her. I'll take him." Harry said, standing ready. Ron looked like he was going to argue, but sighed, clapped Harry on the shoulder and walked over to Ginny and Hermione, giving Jerek one final death glare.  
  
Jerek watched Ron go, before turning back to Harry. He was now looking rather amused. Harry suppressed the urge not to smirk with satisfaction. Jerek looked hardly any better than Ginny, and Harry felt immensely proud that Ginny had been responsible for kicking the shit out of him.  
  
"Going to kill me boy? With that?" he said, pointing to the staff in Harry's hand. Harry glared at him.  
  
"If I have to." He said, stiffening up. Jerek chuckled.  
  
"You don't know how to use that. It took Virginia two weeks to learn how to use it." He said, looking calm. Harry was trying very hard to keep calm.  
  
"I'm a fast learner." He said, taking a step towards him. Jerek smirked at him.  
  
"Tell me, do you see her now?" he asked, looking over at where Ginny was. Harry turned around to see Ginny leaning against Ron's shoulders as he tried to help her up. Her right arm was hanging limp at her side. "She dreamed of you for ages. Many, many years." Jerek continued as Harry turned back to face him.  
  
"I always saw her." Harry growled. He was going over tactics in his head while Jerek talked. He was waiting for the opportune moment.  
  
"No, I don't think you really did. You were like the rest. She was simply Ginny to you. Just little, insecure, shy............'  
  
"Don't you DARE talk about her like you know her!" Harry said, losing his patience. Jerek frowned slightly with sudden interest. Harry knew what he was trying to do.  
  
"I know her better than you. I made her into what she is!" Jerek said, taking a step towards Harry. Harry felt a wave of anger rush over him. He suddenly felt the staff vibrate in his right hand. Harry tried not to show any surprise, as the staff seemed to grow warm in his palm.  
  
"No! You nearly broke her." He said, taking the staff in both hands. The staff seemed to vibrate with excitement, just like his Firebolt. As if it couldn't wait to be put to use. Harry watched as Jerek came closer and closer.  
  
"And I suppose you think you fixed her then, hmm? Finally taken an interest in the girl now that she has become a very............voluptuous young woman."  
  
"SHUT UP!" Harry roared, Ginny's warning completely out of his mind. Jerek's eyes widened as he took Harry in, as Harry knew he would. But as Harry looked closer, he could see something else in his expression. Harry was confused as it looked to be...............fear.  
  
"Holy demons of Gunther. You are............' but Jerek didn't get to finish, as Harry pointed the staff at him and without thinking, willed something to happen. And it did. A large, purple shot of light flew out of the staff and hit Jerek in the stomach, causing him to double over. Harry took advantage of this and kicked Jerek in the face, making him fall over backwards into the snow.  
  
Harry looked in wonder at the staff in his hand. It was still vibrating with excitement. Harry smiled slightly in satisfaction, before looking back down at the heap that was Jerek, lying down in the snow.  
  
For a moment, Harry thought Jerek wasn't going to move.  
  
"Don't be fooled Harry!" Ginny called. Harry spun around to see her standing difficulty and being supported by both Ron and Hermione. "He's bluffing!" she called. Harry nodded and turned back to Jerek. He took a tentative step forward, when as quick as a flash, Jerek pushed himself up, grabbed his staff and sent an energy bolt straight at Harry. Harry's eyes widened in shock as the bolt come towards him. It was inches from him and was going to strike him. Hard.  
  
But someone jumped in front of him.  
  
"TULAC!" Ginny screamed, as Tulac fell to his knees in front of Harry. Harry looked down at him with shock. He was bleeding heavily from his chest. Harry caught him just as he was about to fall face down into the snow.  
  
"You.........y-you'll be ok." Harry said, not knowing what to do. Tulac half- coughed half-laughed.  
  
"Don't be stupid." He said, closing his eyes. Harry was breathing hard. He could hear Ginny's frantic attempts to get to them from behind him. Tulac was talking short, deep breaths. He looked up at Harry.  
  
"When I die............' Tulac began softly.  
  
"You're not gonna.............'  
  
"When I die.........' Tulac began again more determinedly, cutting Harry off '.........you will be responsible for her ladyship.' He said weakly. Harry shook his head. For some reason, he now felt extremely protective of Tulac, and knew he would be rather upset if he died.  
  
"Promise me you will love her............ the way she loves you.' He said, closing his eyes again. Harry swallowed.  
  
"But I............'  
  
"Promise me!" Tulac said urgently, grabbing the front of Harry's jumper. Harry hesitated, as Tulac looked him hard in the eye. Harry sighed and nodded.  
  
"I............I promise. Of course I will." He said. Tulac smiled and relaxed. Harry didn't want to let him go, but he knew there were more pressing matters at hand.  
  
"Go. Leave me here." Tulac said, as if reading his mind. Harry sighed, knowing he would have to.  
  
"You just hang on ok?" he said, squeezing Tulac's hand. Tulac smiled up at him.  
  
"I'm not going anywhere." He said, smirking. Harry smiled and reached over for the staff. But someone swept down, grabbed it and walked swiftly past him. Harry looked up in amazement as Dumbledore swung the staff around expertly and whacked Jerek hand in the face. Harry 's mouth dropped open. He was forever amazed at the old man's agility.  
  
"Time for you to leave now Lord Jerek. Or I will be forced to take drastic actions." Dumbledore said. Harry blinked nervously. He had not seen Dumbledore like this since the night Voldemort had returned 3 years ago. Jerek wiped blood away from his chin, the humor no longer evident in his face.  
  
"You have no power to banish me, Dumbledore." He spat. Dumbledore glared at him.  
  
"You have been proven wrong many times today. Do not risk adding this to your list." He said, cluthing Ginny's staff in his right hand. Jerek scoffed.  
  
"Do not expect me to just leave quietly." He said. "Jaleel, come." Jerek called. But Jaleel didn't answer. Jerek looked around.  
  
"Jaleel! I command you to............' Jerek broke off as he looked down at the heap that was Jaleel's dead body, lying face down in the snow where Tulac had been minutes before. Jerek frowned. Harry felt Tulac shudder in his arms. It was then he realized Tulac was laughing.  
  
"I-I told him. He had to sit still. Little wart." He laughed weakly.  
  
"So, do you still wish to continue this?" Dumbledore asked. Jerek frowned.  
  
"He failed me. He was to prevent all this." Jerek muttered. Ginny laughed.  
  
"Him? You expected HIM to stop this? You even more of a dick than I thought." She said. Jerek glared at her for a moment, before turning back to Dumbledore.  
  
"You think you can just command me to leave? You take everything from me, and you expect me to just walk away?" he spat. Dumbledore continued to give Jerek a hard look.  
  
"I stole nothing, as it was never yours to begin with. Do not make me harm you Lord Jerek." Dumbledore said. Harry saw him stiffen.  
  
"I hate you all! I'll kill you Albus Dumbledore!" Jerek yelled, running towards Dumbledore. Dumbledore tapped the staff on the ground and just as Jerek was going to attack Dumbledore, he drove the end of Ginny's staff into Jerek's chest.  
  
Jerek's eyes widened as he leant against the staff, his own still raised above his head. Dumbledore looked at Jerek with pity as Jerek slowly relaxed against the staff. Dumbledore pulled the staff away from his chest as Jerek slowly went limp, and fell into the snow at Dumbledore's feet.  
  
Harry looked at his headmaster amazed, wondering what had happened. And then he spotted the large blade sticking out the end of Ginny's staff, covered with blood.  
  
"Professor! My god!" Came Hermione's slightly hysterical voice from behind Harry. Dumbledore sighed, looking down at Jerek one final time, before turning to Hermione.  
  
"Miss Weasley. Do you wish to continue this?" he said, holding out her staff to her. Ginny frowned in thought for a moment, before slowly shaking her head. Dumbledore nodded.  
  
"Very well. Hermione and Ronald, could you please assist Virginia to the infirmary?" he asked. Ron nodded.  
  
"Of course. Come on Gin." He said, and went to lift her up. Ginny slapped his hands away irritably with her good arm.  
  
"Stop it, I'm fine. What about Tulac?" she asked urgently, looking over at Harry and Tulac. Harry looked down at Tulac.  
  
"He's breathing, but he's not in good shape." He called. Dumbledore came over and conjured Tulac onto a stretcher.  
  
"Are you alright Harry?" Dumbledore asked, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry looked at Tulac and nodded.  
  
"Yeah. I'm ok. Just make sure he's...............' Harry trailed off, swallowing hard. Dumbledore smiled down at him.  
  
"Very well. Come now, we must go." He said. And led the way up to the infirmary.  
  
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*Wow! That was long! I think I owed it to you guys after such a long time. Anyway, I hope it was ok. If not, I'll fix it up.  
  
Please review! 


	20. Chapter 20

* Chapter 20! Yahoo! I figured I would try to update more for you guys, seen as you like this so much. Like I said, I've been busy lately. I hope this chapter satisfies!  
  
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"Is......is she going to be ok? I mean......look at her!" Ron said, running a shaky hand through his hair. Madam Pomfrey brushed him aside as she worked on Ginny's wounds.  
  
"Mr. Weasley, if you do not give me space I will be forced to make you leave this infirmary!" she said irritably, applying ointment to Ginny's face.  
  
Harry looked at the scene in front of him. On his left, Remus was still in the hospital bed, recovering from his ordeal. Apparently, when they had crossed over to Quartarz, it was a blue moon, and they were like hell on his transformations. Not to mention the wounds he had suffered from being attacked.  
  
In front of him was Tulac. He was shirtless, and was bandaged heavily around the chest. It had been touch and go for the first few minutes, but he was finally stable, although he was still very weak. Harry felt his stomach hitch slightly. Tulac was there because of him. Tulac didn't even know Harry that well, and yet he was willing to give his life for him. This baffled Harry to no end. If Tulac would do that for a person he hardly knew, his mind boggled wondering what he would do for Ginny.  
  
Which brought him to the bed on his right. Ginny was lying there unconscious, as Madam Pomfrey worked on her while trying to get Ron out of the way. Ginny had passed out not long ago from exhaustion, stress and weakness. She was worried sick about Tulac, and had finally relaxed when he was declared stable. She passes out not long after that.  
  
"Ron, come over here and let Madam Pomfrey work!" Hermione said tiredly. She was sitting on a chair a few feet away from Harry, her head in her hands. Ron looked at her for a second, before sighing.  
  
"Ok. I can take a hint." He said, giving Ginny one last look before walking over to Hermione. Harry snorted as Ron sat down on the chair next to her the wrong way, still not taking his eyes off Ginny. "Where's Dumbledore?" Ron asked, watching Madam Pomfrey finally walking away towards her office, but not before giving Ron one final disapproving look.  
  
"Taking care of Jerek and Jaleel." Harry said, walking over to him. Ron nodded, still looking at Ginny. Hermione sighed and ran a hand through her hair.  
  
"What can he do with them? Will the Auror's take them?" she asked.  
  
"Who fucking knows." Came a new, weak voice. Everyone jumped as Ginny opened her eyes, smirking at them. Ron jumped out of his seat as if it had bitten him and ran straight to her side.  
  
"Ginny! God, are you alright? How do you feel?" he asked. Ginny choked out a laugh as Harry and Hermione came up to her bedside.  
  
"Like I got run over by a tow-truck." She said, closing her eyes again. Ron smiled and took her hand.  
  
"As long as you're alright then." He said sarcastically, smiling. Ginny laughed softly.  
  
"Er, we'll give you two a few minutes alone, ok?" Harry said, taking Hermione by the elbow. She nodded, rubbed Ginny's arm and followed Harry out of the infirmary. Ron watched them go, before turning excitedly back to Ginny.  
  
"So, you......'  
  
"Have you sent it yet?" she asked quietly, cutting Ron off. Ron raised an eyebrow and smiled.  
  
"Sent what?" he asked. Ginny sighed.  
  
"The letter, fool." She said, smirking.  
  
"What letter?" he asked. Ginny laughed softly.  
  
"You dickhead. The letter you wrote to Mum and Dad about me being back." She said, trying to sit up. Ron was a little taken back by this. He helped her sit up slightly.  
  
"How did you know about that?" he asked, adjusting her pillows. Ginny scoffed.  
  
"Oh please. I know you well enough to know you'd be struggling with something like that." She said. Ron sighed and smiled, knowing it was useless to protest.  
  
"No. I haven't sent it." He said, leaning on the bed on his elbows. Ginny nodded.  
  
"Can you......not send it for a while?" she asked, looking at him. Ron nodded.  
  
"Yeah, sure. I think I can do that." He said, looking warmly at her. Ginny smiled. There was a warm, comfortable silence between the two siblings for a few moments, before Ginny looked at Tulac in the bed next to her.  
  
"His vitals haven't changed. He's been sleeping." Ron said, noticing her concern. Ginny sighed and nodded. Ron looked at her. "What is it with him anyway? I thought he was evil." He said. Ginny smiled.  
  
"Nah. I actually used to think that as well, but he's not." She said, not taking her eyes off him. "Tulac's just......complicated. Even I cant figure him out sometimes." She said. Ron watched her admire Tulac. She had a protective gleam in her eyes, as if he were another of her siblings.  
  
"I don't know what I would have done if he died." She whispered. Ron noticed a single tear running down her cheek.  
  
"Hey. It's ok. He's fine." He said, wiping the tear away with his thumb. Ginny smiled in thanks. They sat in silence again for a few moments, before Ron cleared his throat.  
  
"Ginny? Are you back? For good?" he asked nervously. Ginny smiled.  
  
"You mean, is 'Bitch Ginny' still around to wreak havoc?" she said. Ron smiled. "No. I'm back. I promise." She said. Ron felt a huge wave of happiness rush over him.  
  
"So, you're coming home this summer?" he asked. Ginny closed her eyes and leant against the pillow, a dreamy look all over her face.  
  
"Home." She said smoothly. Ron waited for her to go on. 'I can't wait to return to the Burrow." She said. Ron chuckled.  
  
"Well y'know, you've probably been living in more luxury while in Quartarz, but......"  
  
"Ha! Piss off! The Burrow is far better." She said, her eyes flying open. "I want nothing more to do with Quartarz anyway, save for two things." She said. Ron raised an eyebrow.  
  
"And they are?" he asked. Ginny smiled.  
  
"My staff......' she said, turning to the bed next to her '......and him." She said, smiling at Tulac's unconscious form.  
  
**************  
  
Ginny awoke in the middle of the night, the feeling of someone watching her rushing strongly over her. She sat up slightly and let her eyes adjust to the darkness. She looked to her right to see Tulac still sleeping, his brown hair illuminated by the moonlight filtering through the windows.  
  
She sent out her senses to try and pick up who was there. The room was silent, save for the faint sound of a rustling. Like a whisper, coming from the front of Remus's bed.  
  
And then she realized who it was. Ginny smiled as she focused on the area of warmth near her bed.  
  
"Harry, you really shouldn't be in here." She said quietly, sitting up completely. There was a few seconds silence, before Harry appeared out of thin air, grinning widely.  
  
"Give me one good reason why not?" he said, walking over to her bedside. Ginny smirked.  
  
"Because it's late, and you're meant to be in bed. School rules and all." She said. Harry chuckled and placed his invisibility cloak on the back of one of the chairs.  
  
"Like I said, give me one GOOD reason." He said. Ginny rolled her eyes, although she was smiling. She moved aside slightly and patted the edge of her bed, indicating for him to sit down. Harry was a little reluctant at first, but did so nonetheless.  
  
"I'm sorry for waking you. I actually didn't mean to." He said apologetically. Ginny raised an eyebrow.  
  
"What were you planning to do? Just stand there and watch me sleep?" she said chuckling. Harry didn't look her in the eyes, and Ginny's eyes widened slightly. "Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't think......"  
  
"It's ok." Harry said, fidgeting slightly. They sat there in silence for a few moments, before Harry sighed and looked at Ginny.  
  
"Look. I er, just wanted to talk to you about something." He said. Ginny smiled.  
  
"Now?" she asked. Harry smiled bashfully.  
  
"Yeah, I know. Pretty dumb timing huh?" he said. Ginny smiled.  
  
"Damn right it is. But anyway, keep going." She said. Harry chuckled softly.  
  
"Well er......I've actually been thinking a lot about......um, well......how you said that you er......' Harry seemed to be having a great deal of difficulty getting out what he wanted to say.  
  
"Harry, spit it out!" Ginny said smirking. Harry looked at the floor. "Ok then. Look at me for a second." She said. Harry took in a deep breath and looked at her straight in the eye. Ginny frowned in concentration, trying to read what he was feeling. She stared at him for a few seconds, before understanding.  
  
"You've been thinking about how I kissed you?" she asked, smirking. To her slight amusement, Harry had gone rather red.  
  
"Well er, yeah. I have actually." He said, looking at the floor again. "Its just......I never really knew you felt that way until recently. Well, of course I knew......but I didn't know how much you......'  
  
"Are you saying you didn't want me to kiss you?" she asked, feeling rather worried. Harry looked at her with amazement.  
  
"No! No, I did. I mean I do......I mean......' he trailed off. Ginny smiled at him. Harry chuckled nervously. Ginny folded her arms over her chest and leant back.  
  
"Good. Because I'm not sorry I did it." She said in a final tone. Harry's eyebrow's rose.  
  
"Really? I thought it was just one of those impulse things." He said. Ginny laughed.  
  
"Nah. Me kissing Tulac would be an impulse thing. Not you." She said softly. Harry stared at her for a second, waiting for her to go on.  
  
"You know, normally the girls in my dorm would talk about you. They'd be all like 'oh, Harry Potter this, The boy-who-lived that', and sometimes it would just piss me off so much. Because your not 'Harry Potter' to me. You Harry. Just Harry. Harry with his messy hair who doesn't want any attention. Harry who sleeps on the floor in my brother's room when he stays over. Harry with no-one to tell him he's loved." She said, not taking her eyes off him the entire time. Harry didn't realize his breathing had increased slightly.  
  
"Ginny, I......'  
  
"No, its ok. You've never really had anything for me. And that's alright......'  
  
"Ginny......'  
  
"And I am sorry for the rude comment I made about me being Ron's sister. But I was rather angry......'  
  
"Ginny......'  
  
"And if you had siblings, then you would feel the same......'  
  
But Ginny didn't get to finish her sentence, as Harry had leant in, cupped her face and kissed her, cutting her off. Ginny was too stunned to do anything at first, but she soon relaxed and began to kiss him back.  
  
As quickly as it had begun, it ended. Harry pulled back and looked at Ginny. Hey eyes were still closed and her lips still sticking out slightly. Harry smiled as Ginny's eyes opened slowly.  
  
"Sorry. You just wouldn't shut-up." Harry said, although he wasn't even remotely sorry he had done it. Ginny smirked.  
  
"Yeah, that tends to happen a lot." She said, leaning forward again, touching his cheek softly with her right hand. Harry sighed and relaxed against her touch.  
  
"Ginny, I think I......'  
  
"No. Don't say anything yet." She whispered, kissing the bridge of his nose. "Lets just, play it by ear." She said, pressing her forehead against his. Harry kissed her again.  
  
"Ok. I think I can do that." He said softly. Ginny smiled.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
"Hmm?" he said, stroking her long, red hair.  
  
"Will you stay with me tonight?" she asked, looking him in the eye. Harry sighed and smiled.  
  
"Sure." He said. Ginny smiled and moved over to allow Harry room to lie down beside her. Harry slid down behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist.  
  
They drifted off to sleep minutes later.  
  
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*Yeah I know. There wasn't much in that chapter, but I wanted a sort-of recovery chapter in between. Please review anyway! 


	21. Chapter 21

*Chapter 21! Wow, and I thought I wouldn't even be bale to get 18! Lol. Anyways, thanks for reviewing so far! I love you all!  
  
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"Well, here we are again. Does anyone else notice how we always end up here after one of our escapades or adventures?" Ron said, leaning back into his chair. Dumbledore grinned at him from the other side of his desk.  
  
"Yes Mr. Weasley. It does seem to be the fashion doesn't it?" he said, petting Fawkes. Harry chuckled as he sat down next to Ginny.  
  
"So, I suppose you're wondering why I have asked you four to come up here?" Dumbledore said, getting comfortable. Harry smirked.  
  
"To make sure Ginny's ok." He said, smiling at her. Ginny rolled her eyes and looked hard at Dumbledore.  
  
"Is this true? Because I assure you I'm fine!" she pressed tiredly. This had not been the first time she had gone through this with anyone. Dumbledore smiled.  
  
"Actually, it was. But I didn't bring you all here for that.' He said. He smiled at their confused expressions and went on. 'I am opening myself to your questions. I know you must have at least a few." He said, leaning forward. Harry felt Hermione tense up next to him. He smiled, knowing that she was obviously desperate to get her question answered.  
  
"Professor, I do have a question actually." She said, bobbing up and down in her seat. Dumbledore smiled warmly at her.  
  
"Yes Miss Granger?" he asked, looking at her over his glasses.  
  
"How did you know how to use Ginny's staff? I mean, Harry did as well, but......'  
  
"No I didn't. I guessed." Harry said quietly. Hermione smirked, but continued to watch Dumbledore.  
  
"Yes Dumbledore, that's a bloody good question. How DID you know how to use it?" Ginny said, shifting slightly and wincing as she did so. She had come straight from the infirmary to the Headmaster's office and was still rather sore.  
  
"Well, lets just say I have been educated about various sorts of defense, magic and what-not." He said elusively. Ginny raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Don't give me that shit! You've been to Quartarz haven't you?" she probed, smirking at him. Ron coughed.  
  
"Ginny, you really should watch your language around the Headmaster." He muttered. Ginny scoffed, but otherwise ignored him. Dumbledore continued to smile.  
  
"No, I actually haven't been there. But like I said, I have been educated about it." He said. Ginny nodded, while Ron leant forward in his chair.  
  
"Did you know where Ginny went? When she was first taken I mean. Cause you didn't seem that surprised when she showed up." Ron said accusingly. Harry looked for Ron to Dumbledore expectantly. Ron did have a good point. Dumbledore didn't seem as surprised to see Ginny as everyone else had.  
  
"No Mr. Weasley, I did not know the location of Virginia. If I had, I certainly would not have subjected her to two years at Quartarz. Do you really think so low of me?" he asked, looking slightly hurt. Ron relaxed and sank down into his chair, looking a bit embarrassed.  
  
"No sir, sorry. Just asking." He said quietly. Dumbledore nodded.  
  
"That's quite alright my boy. But I was actually quite surprised to see Virginia that night, even though I was not very obvious about it." He said. Ron nodded and sighed.  
  
There was a few seconds silence, before Harry spoke up.  
  
"So, what was it that you asked Ginny to do? You know, when you killed Jerek?" he asked, looking between Dumbledore and Ginny. Dumbledore smiled.  
  
"Virginia, perhaps you should explain it." He said. Ginny sighed and nodded, turning gingerly around in her chair to face Harry next to her.  
  
"Well, there's a sort of ritual in Quartarz that's meant to be performed on warriors killed in battle. It's really not too pleasant. See, you get a knife, carve a rune-pattern in their chest, and then you're meant to burn their bodies. Then you take their ashes and scatter them over a certain area." She said causally.  
  
"Urgh. Sounds fabulous." Ron said, looking a bit sick. Ginny chuckled.  
  
"Yeah. But he didn't deserve it. Only the noble, powerful warriors get that treatment." She said. Hermione went to ask something else, when the door banged open and Madam Pomfrey walked in.  
  
"Miss Weasley, you're friend is asking for you." She said, slightly out of breath as if she had power-walked. Ginny jumped up and ran past her out of the office, her aches and pains forgotten.  
  
********  
  
Ginny watched Tulac open his eyes slowly as she stroked his hair. Tulac coughed slightly and smiled.  
  
"My Lady, I never would have guessed you as the Angel of Death." He said weakly. Ginny smiled.  
  
"You're not dead." She said, holding back tears. Tulac swallowed.  
  
"It fucking feels like it." He said, shifting slightly. Ginny chuckled and let a single tear escape her eyes. Tulac looked up at her with concern.  
  
"Are you well? Are you healing?" he asked, reaching out his hand. Ginny took his hand and nodded.  
  
"I'm fine. What about you? Are you feeling any better?" she asked, looking at his bandaged chest. Tulac nodded slowly.  
  
"I'll live apparently.' He said. Ginny sniffed and wiped her eyes with her free hand.  
  
"You dickhead. You shouldn't make me worry about you like this." She said, laughing nervously. Tulac smirked.  
  
"Just doing my job.' He said. There was a moment of silence before Tulac spoke again. "How's Potter? Did he live?" he asked. Ginny nodded.  
  
"Yeah, he's fine. Thanks to you." She said, stroking his face. Tulac relaxed at her touch.  
  
"You love him?" Tulac said. Ginny blinked, taken back by the directness of this question. Tulac was watching her expectantly. She sighed and bowed her head.  
  
"Yes. I do." She said. Tulac watched her for a second, before sighing.  
  
"He loves you?" he asked, closing his eyes. Ginny looked up at Tulac.  
  
"I......I don't know." She said, finding that she honestly didn't. She hadn't given him the chance to tell her anything. Tulac chuckled softly.  
  
"Of course he does.' He said, looking her hard in the eye. 'How could he not?" he said. Ginny stared at him for a second, before realizing what he was getting at.  
  
"Oh, Tulac I...'  
  
"No My Lady. It is perfectly ok.' He said, cutting her off. Ginny looked at him apologetically, before he smirked.  
  
"Just know that if you change your mind...' he said, trailing off. Ginny chuckled, leant forward and kissed him on the forehead.  
  
"I will." She whispered. Tulac smiled, and then his eyes shifted to somewhere over her shoulder. Ginny spun around to see Hermione, Harry and Ron standing there.  
  
"Hey mate." Harry said, walking forward. "Thanks for...'  
  
"Don't mention it, Potter.' Tulac said, cutting Harry off. Harry smiled and patted him softly on the shoulder. Hermione stepped forward.  
  
"I know this might be a strange time to ask this question, but what are you going to do? Are you going back to Quartarz?" she asked Tulac. He went to answer, when Ginny interrupted.  
  
"No, he's fucking not.' She said sternly. Tulac looked at her as she smiled warmly at her. "You're staying with us." She said, stroking his hand with her thumb. Ron smiled.  
  
"You can live with us at the Burrow. You can move into in Percy's room." He said excitedly. Tulac tried to sit up.  
  
"No, I cant impose on...'  
  
"That's an order, Tulac." Ginny said sternly, before smirking at him. Tulac chuckled and smirked back.  
  
"Yes My Lady." He said, closing his eyes and relaxing back into the pillow.  
  
******  
  
* (One Week Later) *  
  
"Ginny, sit still!" Ron laughed. Ginny continued to pace in front of him.  
  
"I can't help it. Its just...nerve-wracking." She said, biting her lip. Ron raised an eyebrow.  
  
"What's nerve-wracking about it? It's only Mum and Dad." He said. Ginny span around and stared at him as if he had gone mad.  
  
"Exactly! I mean, what are they going to say? What am I going to say?" Ginny said slightly hysterically. She rushed over to the window and looked out of it, as if expecting her parents to be standing right outside of it. Ron chuckled as he watched her nervousness.  
  
They were both sitting at one of the tables of the Three Broomsticks. Dumbledore had given Ron and Ginny special permission to be there on that weekend so they could meet up with their parents without a whole bunch of Hogwarts Students around interrupting.  
  
Ginny sighed and tired to relax.  
  
"What did you write in the letter anyway?" she asked, still looking out of the window. Ron took a sip of his Butterbeer.  
  
"Nothing really. Just that I wanted to meet them in Hogsmeade this weekend to show them something important." He said. Ginny smirked and walked back over to the table. She grabbed Ron's Butterbeer, took a nervous swig and sighed.  
  
"What if...after I tell them everything...they hate me?" she said quietly. Ron raised an eyebrow.  
  
"You don't really believe that they would hate you, do you?" he said, resting his elbows on the table. Ginny sighed and put her head in her hands.  
  
"Come on, Ron. I haven't exactly been acting like someone they would be proud of, have I?" she said weakly. Ron sighed and rubbed her arm.  
  
"You had a reason. They could never hate you." He said softly. Ginny lifted her head, looked at him and smiled. Ron opened his mouth to say something when the door of the pub opened and brought in a cold wind, followed by Molly and Arthur Weasley. Ginny stiffened and did not turn around.  
  
"Just stay here." Ron whispered, before getting up and walking over to his parents.  
  
"Mum. Dad!" Ron called happily, walking over to them. Molly Turned around and embraced her son warmly.  
  
"Oh Ron. Good to see you sweetheart." She said, kissing him on the cheek. Ron smiled and hugged his father.  
  
"Glad you two could come." He said, patting his father on the back. Arthur pulled back and put his hands on Ron's shoulders.  
  
"As if we wouldn't!" he said cheerfully. "But I don't understand what's so important that you couldn't wait until Christmas to show us. After all, it IS only a few weeks away." He said, bobbing on his heels. Ron smiled.  
  
"No, this is too important to wait for." He said. Molly raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Ron, what's all this about?" she said questioningly. Ron sighed excitedly and grabbed her hands.  
  
"Just...close your eyes." He said. Molly and Arthur exchanged a glance, before looking back at Ron with utter bewilderment. Ron smiled. "Please?" he said, putting on a puppy-dog face. Molly laughed softly and did as she was told. Ron looked at his father before he did the same. "Ok, just wait here." He said.  
  
Ron checked that they couldn't see, before letting go of his mother's hands and walked back over to Ginny.  
  
"Come on!" he whispered, pulling her out of her seat. Ginny stood up reluctantly, looked at her parents for a moment, before taking a step back and shaking her head.  
  
"No. I...I cant." She said. Ron frowned.  
  
"Ginny,' he said, grabbing her by the upper arms, 'get your ass over there." He said, smirking. Ginny glared at him for a second, before smiling and let herself be dragged over to her parents.  
  
Ron stood her in front of him. Ginny looked at her parents, taking them in. She had been dreaming about them for the past two years, wondering if they had changed at all. Now she finally got to see that they hadn't. They had hardly aged; although her mother looked a little more tired and thinner than the last time she had seen her. Her father also looked rather tired, and Ginny felt a guilty twinge, wondering if that was because of her. She pushed these thoughts aside and stood up straight; ready for whatever their reaction was to be.  
  
"Ron? Can we look now?" Molly said. Ron chuckled.  
  
"Yeah, sure. Open your eyes." He said.  
  
And they did.  
  
At first, it took them a moment to register who they were looking at. Ginny smiled nervously at her parents.  
  
"Hey Mum. Dad." She said quietly. Feeling as though she should probably say something. At first, Ginny was afraid they were just going to stand there and stare at her with shock, before her mother reached out her hand uncertainly.  
  
"G-Ginny?" she whispered. Ginny smiled as her mother touched her face softly, as if to make sure she was really there.  
  
"Surprise." Ginny said, half laughing. Molly laughed and threw her arms around her daughter, breaking down completely. Ron smiled as Arthur looked questioningly at his son, before drawing Ginny and Molly into a three- person hug.  
  
The three of them stayed like that for what seemed like hours, but could only have been a few minutes. Ginny's emotions were in overdrive. She hadn't realized how much she really missed this until now. The smell of her mother's perfume, and her father's hair was so familiar that she couldn't help but cry.  
  
Finally, it took Ron who had tapped his father on the shoulder to pull them apart.  
  
"Come on. Mum, Dad......we need to explain a few things to you." He said. Ginny sniffed, pulled back and nodded.  
  
"Yes.' She said, wiping her eyes. 'Yes. We need to talk." She said, still holding onto her mother and father. Arthur nodded and walked his wife and daughter to the table Ginny and Ron had been sitting at. Ron sat down next to Ginny and folded his arms on the table.  
  
"Ginny. Oh, sweetheart.' Molly said, wiping her eyes. 'Where in the world have you been?" she asked, still holding her hand.  
  
Ginny and Ron exchanged a look, before Ginny took a deep breath and began her story.  
  
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*Weeeeellllllll, there you have it. The End! I'm pretty sure that's as far as I can go, but if you want an epilogue or a "Three months later" type thing, I'll do it for you.  
  
Please review! 


	22. Chapter 22

* Chapter 22. Well, you asked for an epilogue, and I am delivering one to you! But next chapter. Somehow I keep finding things to say! Yay! *Bows at applause * Ahem, anyway, I hope its ok. And thanks to all of you for reading my story! I had so much fun writing it!  
  
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"Ok...are you trying to piss me off?" Hermione said, slapping Ginny's hand away. But Ginny continued to poke her.  
  
"Yes! I'm trying to get a reading on you." She said, poking Hermione in the side. Hermione flinched and giggled. Ginny chuckled, as this was obviously a ticklish spot.  
  
"But why? You already did ages ago." Hermione said, getting off the bed so as to get away from Ginny's insistent poking. Ginny sighed and let her arms flop.  
  
"Because! That was only like, a split second, and I'm fucking interested. Please sit down." Ginny said, putting on a puppy-dog face and patting the bed next to her. Hermione rolled her eyes, smirking and did so.  
  
Ginny and Hermione were in Hermione's room. Ginny had come in not too much earlier wanting to talk to her. And they had. The two girls had been casually chatting for the past hour, just like they used to. It was all so familiar to Ginny, and she now wondered how she could even hated Hermione.  
  
"So, just get mad." Ginny said casually, turning to face Hermione. Hermione raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Ok, I don't come with a remote control that has 'Anger volume' buttons." She said. Ginny rolled her eyes.  
  
"Come on, try!" she said, poking Hermione again. She slapped Ginny's hands away again.  
  
"Ok! Gees." Hermione said, frowning in concentration. Ginny smirked, getting an idea.  
  
"Come here." She said, indicating for Hermione to move closer. As she did so, Ginny placed her palm on Hermione's forehead and closed her eyes.  
  
Hermione suddenly felt her head spin, as if she were being pulled down a plug-hole. And then she found herself out in the grounds, watching a scene in front of her. She looked harder to see two people together. And they were kissing, very passionately. One with red hair, and one with brown. Hermione smiled, assuming that it was her and Ron. But the haze around the scene began to fade, and the people came into sharper focus.  
  
Well, it was definitely Ron, but the girl wasn't Hermione. She wasn't as tall as Hermione, and she didn't have the same figure, or the same length hair. Hermione frowned in curiosity as the pair turned around to show who they were. Hermione's mouth dropped open in horror as she recognized the girl.  
  
Pansy Parkinson.  
  
Hermione felt a wave of hurt rush over her. How could Ron do this to her? Especially with that cow? The feeling of hurt was quickly taken over by annoyance and anger. How could she not have noticed something was wrong?  
  
"Son of a bitch!" Hermione yelled angrily and took a step forward, but found herself thrown back onto the ground. She closed her eyes as she hit the ground and when she opened them, she found herself on the floor in her room again. Hermione stood up angrily and looked around, fuming.  
  
"Bastard." She said through gritted teeth and made for the door. She was feet from it when...  
  
"Hermione, stop." Came a voice. Hermione spun around to see Ginny sprawled on her back on the floor. Hermione was a little confused a first, before she remembered what happened.  
  
"Oh shit!" she said, running forward to help Ginny up off the floor. Ginny chuckled as Hermione held out her hand for her. She took it and Hermione pulled her up, looking apologetic. "I'm so sorry." Hermione laughed nervously. Ginny put a hand to her forehead and smirked.  
  
"That's alright. I should have warned you not to break the connection." She said sitting back down on the end of the bed with a slight groan. Hermione sat down next to her, still feeling very guilty.  
  
"What was that?" she said. Ginny sighed.  
  
"Just a mental projection. Another little trick of mine. I haven't done it much though, that's why I've got a bit of a headache." She said, rubbing her temples. Hermione sighed.  
  
"Then why did you do it?" she asked, smirking. Ginny smiled.  
  
"So it would piss you off.' She said. 'And it did." She said, looking Hermione up and down. Hermione sighed and smiled, feeling very relieved that it was only an illusion.  
  
"So, what did you think?" she asked, spreading out her arms and lifted her head in dignity. Ginny chuckled.  
  
"Oh yeah. You're scary." She said. Hermione laughed and rubbed Ginny on the shoulder to try and relax her.  
  
"But, just one thing." She added. Ginny smiled, indicating for her to go on. "Pansy Parkinson?" Hermione asked, shivering. Ginny laughed.  
  
"Trust me, it grossed me out as much as it did you." She said, also cringing. Hermione laughed and stood up.  
  
"Come on, let's go to the kitchens for some food." She said, holding out her hand. Ginny smiled, took her hand and the two friends walked out together.  
  
*************  
  
"Potter, concentrate!" Tulac said irritably. Harry sighed and stretched.  
  
"I am!" he said with the same annoyance. Tulac shook his head and twirled his staff.  
  
"Look, you need to focus. Enemy's will not give you time-out periods like I am." Tulac said, leaning on his staff casually while Harry took a moment to catch his breath. "You need to center yourself and ignore external distractions." He said. Harry nodded and looked around.  
  
"Where's Ron? Aren't you meant to be training him too?" he asked. Tulac nodded.  
  
"Yes, this afternoon. Now, take your position." He said, twirling his staff. Harry sighed, pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and stood ready again. Tulac began circling him as if trying to make Harry nervous, but Harry watched him with wrapped attention. He had the feeling someone was watching him, but ignored it as Tulac had told him. And then Tulac lunged at him again and they began sparring.  
  
Harry and Ron had both urged to be trained as soon as Tulac was well enough to do so. So far, they had been training every night Harry had free apart from Quidditch training and homework, which wasn't much, but it was enough.  
  
Harry ducked as Tulac swung his staff at Harry's head, but as he did, Tulac crouched, swung his leg around and tripped Harry up. Harry landed on his back with a grunt as Tulac stood up and looked down at him disapprovingly. Harry drew in deeps breaths as Tulac held his hand out for Harry. He took it and let Tulac help him up.  
  
"You're not focusing." Tulac said, catching his breath. Usually he wasn't so warn out by a simple sparring session, but he was still recovering and was not fully fit yet. Harry sighed.  
  
"I am." He said weakly. Tulac ignored him.  
  
"Ronald is a full-day's lesson ahead of you." He said. Harry rolled his eyes.  
  
"Maybe it's a Weasley thing then." He said.  
  
"Or maybe it's because he isn't having sexual fantasies about her ladyship like you are." Tulac said. Harry stared at him. Tulac looked like he was trying very hard not to smile. Harry frowned.  
  
"First of all, that's disgusting. Second of all, I thought we agreed no readings!" he said, putting his staff down on the ground. He had not denied however, that he had been fantasizing about Ginny. Tulac shrugged and sat down on the ground. The two of them were training in a small opening just on the edge of the Forbidden Forrest. It was close enough to see out of, but not enough to be seen. Which Harry liked, as it was rather embarrassing when he messed up.  
  
"You wear you emotions out in the open like they are some beautiful piece of clothing. You need to keep private things private. Especially you." He said. Harry raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Why especially me?" he asked, sitting down on the ground next to Tulac.  
  
"Because of who you are. You hold massive untapped power.' He said, standing up. 'And plus, you are rather beautiful." He said. Harry's eyebrow's raised.  
  
"You mean that in a strictly non-homosexual way don't you?" he asked, grabbing his staff and standing up also. Tulac chuckled at Harry's worried expression.  
  
"Your aura Potter. Don't flatter yourself too much." He said, stretching. Harry let out a nervous sigh of relief and smiled. "Besides,' said Tulac, standing in position ', I'm 5 times prettier than you." He said, smirking. Harry chuckled and shook his head, clutching his staff tightly.  
  
"How old are you?" Harry asked, tapping Tulac's staff with the end of his own. Tulac sighed and frowned, as if he were trying to work it out in his head.  
  
"Well, I have seen 22 of your equivalent earth yearly cycles." He said, lunging at Harry. Harry blocked it and took a step backward.  
  
"Wow. You don't look that old. You look younger" He said, lunging at Tulac. Indeed, Tulac looked only about 17 or 18.  
  
"That's because he uses daily moisturizer. Keeps his skin silky soft" Came an amused, new voice. Both men looked up to see Ginny watching from up in a tree with great amusement. Tulac smirked and bowed his head.  
  
"How long have you been up there?" Harry asked, smirking. Ginny smiled and leapt skillfully out of the tree.  
  
"A few minutes before you two started discussing each-others prettiness. And to which, I have to say I am hotter than both of you two put together." She said. Harry rolled his eyes and smiled, while Ginny tapped Tulac on the arm.  
  
"Go. Have a break. I'll take him." She said, watching Harry. Tulac smirked, bowed and looked at Harry.  
  
"Meet me in the dungeons tomorrow night. We start using swords." He said, smirking. He smiled once more at Ginny, and then left the two of them alone. Ginny waved her hand and summoned her staff in front of her. Harry's eyes widened.  
  
"Hey, that's not fair. You can do magic with that." He said, pointing at her staff. Ginny smirked as she looked down at the staff in Harry's hands. While training, he Ron and Tulac had been using simple wooden ones, as the real magical ones like Ginny's were very hard to come by.  
  
"I promise I wont use magic. I just want to see how good you are so far." She sad, twirling her staff around. Harry nodded and stood in position. "Ready?" she asked. Harry nodded as Ginny lunged.  
  
Harry blocked her swing and then attempted his own. He narrowly missed her and lunged again, but Ginny blocked it as well. Harry and Ginny continued to slowly and playfully spar with each other. Harry knew she was taking it easy on him, as he had seen her attack someone...and it was scary.  
  
Harry was distracted again by this reminiscing and Ginny took advantage of it by tripping him up, so he was once again sprawled on his back. Harry groaned and cursed himself for not paying attention. Ginny smiled, bent down and did not help him up, but instead straddled him. She put her hands on her hips and looked down at him with mock sternness.  
  
"So Mr. Potter, care to explain to me what happened?" she said. Harry chuckled.  
  
"I lost focus. Tulac keeps telling me to concentrate." He said, sitting up and leaning against his elbows. Ginny smirked.  
  
"Yeah, about that...' she said, leaning down close to him. 'Been fantasizing about me have we?" she whispered huskily in his ear. Harry smirked.  
  
They officially weren't together, as the two of them had not actually sat down and discussed their situation. It was just some sort of mutual, unspoken agreement between them that said they could and would openly flirt with one another. Harry pulled her down to meet him slightly.  
  
"Maybe I have. Do you have a problem with that, miss Weasley?" he asked, running a finger along her cheek. Ginny smiled, shook her head and closed the distance between them. The continued to kiss for a while, before Harry pushed her up slightly.  
  
"Ginny?" he asked looking up at her.  
  
"Hmm?" she asked, playing with his hair.  
  
"Would I seem too forward if I asked you if you would...' he said, but said the last bit so quietly what Ginny didn't hear him.  
  
"What was that?" she asked, leaning forward again. Harry sighed and looked away.  
  
"If you would...be my girl." He asked, turning red. Ginny looked down at him with amazement for a moment, before raising an eyebrow.  
  
"But...I thought I already was." She said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Harry looked her in the eye and the two of them just smiled warmly at each other. Harry shifted so he could sit up a bit more and kissed her on the cheek.  
  
"Great." Was all he said, before bringing her into another kiss. Ginny smiled and relaxed against him, ignoring the fact that they were in the Forbidden Forest and it was freezing cold around them.  
  
They continued to kiss for a few moments, before Harry pulled back again, stood up and help his hand out for Ginny. She smiled, took it and didn't let go.  
  
"Come on. I'm starving. Tulac really made me work out today." He said, rubbing his stomach. Ginny laughed, whacked him playfully in the arm and let herself be led up to the castle.  
  
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*OOOOOOOOh, ok I promise the next one will be it! I'm sorry if that story totally bored you to tears, but I wanted to have a little fun! Anyways, thanks for reading so far.  
  
Please Review! 


	23. Epilogue

* Ok guys, I promise this is the last chapter! Lol. This is hopefully going to be a nice, relaxing final chapter...so please enjoy! Thanks so much for sticking with this story. You have no idea how much its means to me. I hope you'll read other stories I continue to write for you in the future!  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"So, who's the most powerful?" Harry asked, linking his hand with Ginny's. She smiled and leant her head against his shoulder.  
  
"As if you don't already know." She said elusively. Harry laughed.  
  
Harry and Ginny were sitting out the back of the Burrow, leaning against a tree. Harry was leaning against it, and Ginny was leaning against him, her back against his chest. The Trio had gone back to the Burrow with Ginny for Christmas at Mrs. Weasley's insistence. And they all knew better than to disagree. The whole family was going to be there to celebrate Ginny's return.  
  
"Dumbledore?" Harry asked, resting his chin on her head. Ginny chuckled softly.  
  
"Nope." She said. Harry's eyes widened as he looked at her.  
  
"What? You're kidding right?" he asked, stunned. Ginny shook her head.  
  
"I went into his office the day before we left, and he let me get a good reading on him." She said. Harry's interest peaked.  
  
"So, what's he like?" he asked, full of interest. Ginny let out a breath of awe.  
  
"Oh man. It's incredible.' she said, a goofy smile spreading over her face. "He's...indescribable. That's how beautiful it is." She said. Harry looked at her as she thought about it. It was as if just the thought of it gave her a sense of overwhelming peace. It was times like this that he wished he had some of the abilities that she did.  
  
"But then...who could be more powerful than Dumbledore?" he asked. Ginny chuckled.  
  
"You really don't know yet, do you?" she asked, turning slightly. Harry shook his head. Ginny smiled and turned back around.  
  
"Its you silly." She said casually. Harry's eyes opened in shock, and for a moment, he seriously doubted he had heard her right. Harry chuckled.  
  
"Yeah. Me. I'M more powerful than Dumbledore." He said sarcastically. Ginny now got up, turned around and sat down on her knees, facing him with complete seriousness. Harry's mouth dropped open.  
  
"What...how..." he stuttered. Ginny smirked as he struggled to form sentences. "How do you know?" he asked slowly.  
  
"Well, I don't know for absolute sure, but I'm pretty confident that I'm right." She said.  
  
Harry just sat there, wide-eyed as he processed this information. Ginny smiled at him for a few seconds, before placing a finger under his chin and closing his mouth.  
  
"Would you like me to list everyone in order?" she asked, giggling slightly at his shock. Harry nodded slowly.  
  
"Sure. Ok." He said in a slightly weak voice. Ginny smiled and sat back a bit.  
  
"Ok, lets see. First there's you, then Dumbledore...McGonagall...Ron and Hermione are about the same...' she said, counting with the fingers on her hand. '...Then there's Neville and Lupin...um, that's all I've read that you'd be interested in so far." She said. Harry nodded and let out a slow breath. Ginny smiled.  
  
"Is it really that much of a surprise?" she asked, chuckling slightly. Harry smiled nervously.  
  
"Um, don't you think you'd be a little shocked being told you were more powerful than the greatest wizard in the world?" he asked, running a hand through his hair. Ginny smiled.  
  
"Well, he couldn't keep that status forever could he?" she said. Harry smiled as Ginny leant in and kissed him.  
  
"Hey! Enough of that. Get over here Harry. We need a seeker to match Charlie!" came Fred's voice. The couple pulled apart and looked over to see all the Weasley boys in the closest clearing with their broomsticks, ready for a game of Quidditch. Harry laughed and looked at Ginny who smiled.  
  
"Go on. I'm going to see if Mum wants help." She said, getting up. Harry jumped up, kissed her quickly in thanks and ran off to join the game.  
  
Ginny chuckled and walked off into the house. She crossed the threshold to the kitchen and stopped and stared with amazement. She put a hand to her mouth to stop her from bursting out laughing.  
  
Tulac was sitting at the kitchen bench with her mother, and by the looks of it was getting a bit of a lecture. But that wasn't just what made it so funny. He was wearing a midnight blue Weasley Jumper that her mother had obviously made for him. It had a large 'T' on the front and Tulac looked a little uncomfortable in it. Obviously, he had never worn wool before.  
  
"Now, I want you to feel right at home here. And don't let me catch you not eating, because you're recovering from a terrible injury and need to keep your strength up." Mrs. Weasley said in a mothering tone.  
  
"Yes Mrs. Weasley, I know." Tulac said in a flat tone, as if he had been told all this before.  
  
"I mean it young man. There will be none of that training for the next three days. It's Christmas and you deserve a holiday." She said, pointing a finger at him. Tulac sighed.  
  
"Yes Mrs. Weasley." He said again.  
  
Finally, Ginny could stay silent no longer. She cleared her throat and Mrs. Weasley spun around and smiled warmly at her. Ginny tried not to laugh as Tulac gave her a look that said 'Thank god you're here' over her mother's shoulder.  
  
"Ah, Ginny. Come to help with dinner I assume?" she asked, getting off her stool. Ginny nodded.  
  
"Yeah. Harry left me for Quidditch." She said. Mrs. Weasley laughed.  
  
"Ah yes. Those boys and there sports.' She said, walking over to the sink. "Have you ever played Quidditch Tulac?" she asked, filling up the sink. Tulac sighed quietly.  
  
"No Mrs. Weasley. I can't say that I have." He said. Ginny snorted and Tulac winked at her.  
  
"Mum, there's no Quidditch in Quartarz." She said, leaning against the bench. Mrs. Weasley spun around quick enough to give Ginny a shocked and appalled look, before turning back to the sink to wash potatoes.  
  
"Well, I don't think your brothers could have survived a day without Quidditch.' She said. Ginny laughed and walked over to her mother, ready to help.  
  
"Oh no dear, I don't need anything at the moment. You and Tulac go have fun." Mrs. Weasley said, turning again and giving Tulac a warm smile. Tulac grinned back nervously, as Ginny nodded, kissed her mother on the cheek and walked over to Tulac, grabbing him by the hand.  
  
"Come on." She said, dragging him out of the kitchen. They walked out the back door and over to the group who were watching the commencing Quidditch game.  
  
"Good god. Is your mother like that with everyone?" Tulac asked, running a hand through his hair. Ginny laughed.  
  
"Pretty much. But mostly with the people she likes." She said, smirking. "It's a bit mush isn't it?" she asked. Tulac laughed.  
  
"Are you joking? It's one of the best things I've ever experienced in my life." He said with slight excitement. Ginny looked at him with slight amazement.  
  
"Didn't look like it." She said. Tulac grinned.  
  
"I'm still getting used to showing emotions My Lady." He said, going back to his normal, calm demeanor. Ginny laughed.  
  
"You know you don't have to call me that anymore don't you?" she said. Tulac smiled and looked up at the boys playing the game.  
  
"Yes, I know." He said. Ginny smiled, linked her arm with his and went to get a closer look.  
  
***********  
  
"Oh Bill! It's fantastic!" Ginny said, pulling on her new leather jacket from her brother. Bill laughed as Ginny jumped up and ran over to him, flopping down on his lap.  
  
"Anything for my favorite little sister." He said. Ginny rolled her eyes.  
  
"I'm your ONLY little sister." She chuckled. Bill shrugged as Ginny smiled, kissed him off the cheek and ran back over to Harry.  
  
The Weasley's, (finding that they could no longer stand the anticipation) had decided to open their gifts now, instead of the following morning as per usual.  
  
Harry had just finished opening his gift from Hermione (a new edition of Hogwarts: A history. 'Its about time you read it so you wont need me all the time!') , when Tulac had walked over to him and Ron, looking a bit uncomfortable.  
  
"I er, apologize for the informalness of my gift presenting. But I was not informed that it was common procedure for these gifts to be wrapped." He said, holing out their gifts. Harry and Ron's mouths dropped open as they received their brand new swords, complete with belt to wear with it.  
  
"Tulac...where did you get these?" Ron asked, taking his sword out of its holder. Tulac smiled.  
  
"That's a secret Ronald. One day I shall tell you." He said. Harry tested his sword out quickly, before sheathing it again.  
  
"Tulac, these are incredible." He said in an awed voice. Tulac bowed his head and went back over to the kitchen, retrieved something and walked back over to Hermione.  
  
"And this is for you." He said, handing her a brand new staff. Hermione smiled, stood up and took it from him. Hermione had not been as keen as the boys to learn how to duel with swords as she had with the staff. It turned out that she was rather good at using her staff, but a swift, accidental movement from Ron while they were training tragically broke it.  
  
Hermione leapt forward and threw her arms around Tulac's neck.  
  
"Thanks." She said, kissing him on the cheek. Tulac was stunned for a moment, before he smiled and bowed respectfully. Hermione patted him on the arm and ran over excitedly to Ginny to show of her new staff.  
  
**  
  
Christmas Dinner was a very loud, eventful and squished affair. There were 9 Weasleys, Harry, Hermione and Tulac all sitting in the kitchen. But thanks to Charlie's superb charm skills, he was able to put a temporary enlargement on both the kitchen and the table.  
  
Mrs. Weasley had truly outdone herself with their meal. It was a feast to match the ones at Hogwarts. It made Harry wonder that if Mrs. Weasley alone could match the standards of hundreds of house-elves, he was very curios as to what else she was capable of.  
  
Harry let his eyes wander around the table. He looked at Ron next to him, who was feeding Hermione a piece of roast turkey. They both had ridiculous Christmas hats on and obviously couldn't care less. Next to them were Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who were talking to each other quietly, and Harry saw them occasionally cast a glance down the table at Ginny.  
  
Next to them sat Bill, who was talking to Percy about something that was obviously of great interest to Percy, as he was looking rather excited as he spoke. Harry had a very good suspicion that it had something to do with work.  
  
Next to Percy, sat Charlie who was laughing hard at something George had just said to him. He was laughing so hard with suppressed laughter that it looked like he was about to spray Butterbeer out of his nose.  
  
On Harry's right, sat Fred. And next to Fred sat Tulac. Tulac wasn't really talking much, but apparently found it safer just to listen into other conversations. Fred suddenly turned excitedly to Tulac and held out a plate to him.  
  
"Want some more potatoes old boy? You're part of the family now, and as such need to start eating like a Weasley." Fred said happily. Tulac looked apprehensively at the potatoes, raised and eyebrow and looked at Fred.  
  
"No, thank you Fredrick. I'll be fine." He said nervously. Harry snorted; remembering how Tulac had taken food from the twins before and seconds later had turned into a canary. He had learnt fast not to accept food from them.  
  
Finally, Harry looked opposite of where he sat to see Ginny, watching him with interest. Harry smiled warmly at her, and she winked at him. Harry was about to go back to his plate, when he felt something rub against his shin.  
  
He jumped slightly with surprise, before he realized it was Ginny's foot. Harry looked up at her again. She was looking innocently around the table, as if it were no big deal to be teasing him under the table with her entire family around. Harry chuckled, reached under the table and grabbed her foot. Ginny tried not to yell out in surprise. She looked up at him. Harry smiled and mouthed 'Meet me outside after dinner.' to her.  
  
Ginny smiled, nodded and the two of them went back to their dinner.  
  
****  
  
"Harry? Hello?" Ginny asked, pulling on her woolen gloves. She was walking around alone, outside in the dead of night. Harry had told her to meet him out here, and he wasn't even there himself.  
  
"Hey." Came a voice. Ginny spun around to see Harry hiding in the shadows of the house. Ginny squinted, trying to get him into focus.  
  
"What are you doing hiding back there?" she said, smiling. Harry waved, indicating for her to join him. Ginny shrugged and causally made her way over to him.  
  
As soon as she was close enough, Harry grabbed her around the middle and pulled her to him. Ginny let out a quiet squeal of surprise as Harry pushed her against the house and kissed her.  
  
They broke apart after a few moments, and Ginny laughed softly.  
  
"Harry, my parents are like, on the other side of this wall!" she said, almost nervously Harry shrugged.  
  
"Oh well. I'm done kissing you anyway." He joked, stepping back away from her slightly. Ginny scoffed with mock outrage. Harry laughed anyway. "I just wanted to give you something." He said. Ginny raised an eyebrow.  
  
"You just did." She said, smirking. Harry chuckled.  
  
"Something else." He said, reaching into his pocket. Ginny's interest peaked.  
  
"A Christmas present?" she said, almost jumping up and down with excitement. Harry smiled.  
  
"Well, not exactly." He said, pulling out a small box. Ginny stared at it for a moment, her mind going into overdrive. 'That's not what I think it is, is it?' she thought. Harry held it out to her and opened it.  
  
Indeed, inside was a very beautiful, yet simple silver ring with one single diamond on it. Ginny gasped in shock.  
  
"Oh my god.' she whispered and looked up at Harry. "Harry, is that...is it a...'  
  
"An engagement ring?" he finished, smirking. Ginny nodded slowly, her mouth still open. Harry chuckled. "No, it's not actually." He said. Ginny let out a sigh of relief.  
  
"Oh thank god," she breathed. "Cause I'm SO not ready to get married." She said, laughing nervously. Harry chuckled.  
  
"Me either.' He said, taking it out of the box. 'This is a Promise Ring." He said. Ginny raised an eyebrow.  
  
"It's a muggle thing. It's like an engagement ring, but different." He said. "It's me, making a promise to you that I will always care for you." He said, looking her in the eye the entire time. He took her hand with his left.  
  
"Honestly, I really don't know if you are the one I want to spend forever with. But I do know that I want to spend now with you. Now and a long time after that." He said. Ginny felt herself beginning to tear up. "I care a lot for you Ginny, and I think I'm falling in love with you. I have been for a long time." He was starting to look nervous. "So with that...' he said, taking a deep breath, 'will you accept this? Will you accept my promise to you?" he asked, holding the ring up.  
  
Ginny let a single tear fall from her eye. Did he not already know?  
  
"Yes." She whispered. "Of course I will." She said. Harry smiled the biggest smile that lit up his entire face as he took her right hand and slipped the ring onto her 4th finger. He kissed her knuckles, looking her in the eye the entire time. Ginny laughed softly, took his face in her hands and kissed him softly.  
  
"That's the sweetest thing that's ever happened to me." She said. Harry smiled and kissed the bride of her nose.  
  
"Yeah. I think I did alright." He said. Ginny laughed and hit him playfully on the arm. They just stared at each other for a few minutes, relishing in the fact that they were growing as a couple, before the cold wind finally urged them to go inside.  
  
"Come on. Maybe we should go rescue Tulac. Last I saw, Percy had him in a corner and was explaining the entire Ministry system to him." Harry said, holding out his elbow. Ginny laughed and linked her arm with his.  
  
"The poor boy. I think he's going to regret becoming a part of this family. It's a miracle Mum hasn't wanted to adopt him yet." She said. Harry laughed and kissed her on the cheek.  
  
As they walked back into the house, Harry broke away from Ginny to go join Ron and Hermione who were playing a game of chess. Ginny smiled as she watched him go and looked around her house.  
  
Her parents were sitting near the window; their hands linked together and were talking casually. Charlie and Percy were sitting on the couch, and by the looks of it were discussing Quidditch. Bill was sitting at the bench, listening to something Tulac as explaining, and Fred and George were apparently commentating on Ron and Hermione's chess game, as Ron kept yelling at them to shut-up.  
  
Ginny smiled as her mother indicated for her to go over to them. As she made her way over to them, she finally felt that family-shaped void she had been missing for the past two years heal over. Now she felt complete.  
  
Now she was home.  
  
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*Yay! How was that? I would really love to hear input from you guys as to how I finished my story. Was it good? Bad? Average? Either way, I'd love to know.  
  
Thanks so much for reading. I had heaps of fun writing it and I hope you all enjoyed it. Hopefully you will keep reading all my stories, and hopefully I can continue to entertain.  
  
Thanks guys. Peace! 


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